Stádas na Gaeilge san Eoraip
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-14
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Rónán Mullen (IND), National University of Ireland

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Dillon. Cé go bhfuil stádas iomlán mar theanga oifigiúil is oibre ag an nGaeilge san Aontas Eorpach ó thús na bliana 2022 de bhun rialacháin, ta cinneadh déanta ag Parlaimint na hEorpa amháin gan foireann iomlán aistritheoirí Gaeilge a fhostú le plé leis an bhfocal scríofa agus gan post buan ar bith a chruthú d’ateangairí Gaeilge sa Pharlaimint chun plé leis an nGaeilge labhartha. Fágann sé sin nach bhfuil an deis ag Feisirí an Ghaeilge a úsáid in obair choistí na Parlaiminte, áit a ndéantar formhór obair na Parlaiminte. Is gá go n-éileoidh an Rialtas go gcruthóidh Parlaimint na hEorpa na poist bhuana a bhfuil gá leo. Is éard atá i gceist agam ná sé phost d’aistritheoirí, dhá phost do phrofléitheoirí Gaeilge agus trí phost d’ateangairí Gaeilge, agus iad a líonadh le daoine ar chonarthaí buana nó sealadacha ach na poist bhuana sin a bheith ann.
Dála an scéil, réitigh Rialtas Mhálta an maolú ar úsáid na Máltaise sa Pharlaimint níos luaithe i mbliana. Is gá do Rialtas na hÉireann gníomhú láithreach, go háirithe i gcomhthéacs Uachtaránacht na hÉireann ar an Aontas Eorpach agus ar Chomhairle na nAirí atá ag teacht chun cinn.
As the Minister of State knows, Irish has been a full official working language of the European Union since the beginning of 2022, pursuant to a regulation. The European Parliament alone has decided not to employ a full team of Irish language translators to deal with the written word or create any permanent position for Irish language interpreters in Parliament to deal with spoken Irish. This means that MEPs do not have the opportunity to use Irish in the work of the committees of the Parliament, where most of the Parliament’s work is done. In the context of our upcoming Presidency of the European Union and the Council, the Government must require the European Parliament to create the necessary permanent posts. There must be six Irish-language translator posts, two Irish-language proofreader posts and three Irish language interpreter posts, to be filled either on a permanent basis or by temporary contract staff as long as those permanent jobs are in place.
The Maltese Government resolved the derogation on the use of Maltese in Parliament earlier this year. Now is the time for the Irish Government to take an immediate step likewise. I will ask the Minister of State the following questions: cad iad na bearta sonracha atá curtha i bhfeidhm chun a chinntiú gur féidir le seirbhís ateangaireachta Pharlaimint na hEorpa ateangaireacht Ghaeilge a chur ar fáil le linn Uachtaránacht na hÉireann ar an gComhairle ón 1 Iúil 2026? Cé mhéad ateangaire foirne don Ghaeilge atá earcaithe ag Parlaimint na hEorpa faoi láthair? Cé mhéad post buan d'ateangairí a bheidh ag teastáil chun ligean d'Fheisirí a gceart chun Gaeilge a labhairt a fheidhmiú i gcruinnithe coiste agus toscaireachta faoi riail 174 de na rialacha nós imeachta? Cé mhéad post buan breise d'aistritheoirí agus do phrofléithteoirí sa rannóg Gaeilge de chuid Ard-Stiúrthóireacht an Aistriúcháin a bheadh ag teastáil chun ligean d'Fheisirí a gceart chun cáipéisí a léamh as Gaeilge a fheidhmiú i gcruinnithe coiste agus toscaireachta faoi na rialacha nós imeachta, agus deireadh a chur leis an maolú ar úsáid na Gaeilge sa Pharlaimint? An bhfuil an Rialtas buartha nach bhfuil ár gcuóta post san Aontas Eorpach á líonadh againn mar gheall ar an maolú seo, in ainneoin go bhfuil Éire ag íoc isteach sna cistí aistriúcháin agus ateangaireachta cosúil le gach tír eile?
What specific measures are being put in place to ensure the Parliament’s interpretation service can provide Irish during our Council Presidency from 1 July? How many Irish-language staff and interpreters are currently recruited by the Parliament? How many permanent interpreter positions would be required to allow Members to exercise their right to speak Irish in committee and delegation meetings under rule 174 of the rules of procedure? How many extra permanent translator and proofreader positions in the Irish-language department of the Directorate-General for Translation would be required to allow Members to exercise their right to read documents in Irish in committee and delegation meetings under the rules of procedure and end the derogation on the use of Irish in Parliament? Finally, is the Government concerned that we are not filling our quota of posts at EU level because of this derogation, despite the fact that Ireland is paying into translation and interpretation funds like every other country?

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:57+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-14