- Action Plan for 2026-2028 launched in support of the National Plan for Irish Language Public Services 2024-2030
- Cross-Governmental actions set out under five strategic themes
- New initiatives focusing on capacity and awareness building, skills development, technology and a suite of supportive measures
- Important step towards a bilingual public service
The Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, has announced that the Action Plan for Irish Language Public Services 2026-2028 has been approved by Government.
This Action Plan, which is published on the Department’s website, looks to take a holistic, measurable and practical approach to the implementation of the National Plan for Irish Language Public Services 2024-2030, which was published in October 2024.
Overall responsibility for the preparation of both plans fell on the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee, which was established in June 2022 under the Official Languages Acts 2003 and 2021, with a wide range of organisations from across the public sector represented at a senior level on it including Government Departments, the Local Government Management Agency, HSE, An Garda Síochána, and the recruitment provider publicjobs.
Preparation of this action plan involved extensive consultation and engagement across Government and beyond– particularly as it relates to core public services and Gaeltacht areas.
It also built on the invaluable research carried out for the National Plan itself, which demonstrated a clear interest in increasing Irish language competence among public sector staff and positivity towards the language in general.
Cross-cutting initiatives contained in the action plan look to enhance the provision of bilingual public services across the country – particularly in Gaeltacht areas, through a range of various measures. It focuses on developing the supportive structures and includes measures focused on capacity and awareness building, skills development and technology.
The plan places a particular emphasis on measures to be undertaken to achieve the overarching recruitment target that 20% of recruits to public sector bodies will be competent in Irish by the end of 2030.
Ultimately this will enable the normalisation of the Irish language as an integral part of the public service and will also empower speakers of the language to use it when accessing services.
Minister Calleary said:
“It is a great honour for me, as the first senior Minister with responsibility for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht in several years, to publish this Action Plan today.
“At a time when the level of good-will and positivity towards the language has never been higher, this ambitious plan sets out the clear and measurable steps to be taken across Government in the years ahead towards achieving a truly bilingual public service, and indeed bilingual society, in line with Programme for Government commitments.
“This plan puts support and innovation at the heart of developments to come and I look forward to forging ahead with my Government colleagues and other key stakeholder on this work, at this very exciting time for the Irish language. One example of this is FÍS ‘26 – a new conference supported by my Department, that’s to bring young people together during Seachtain na Gaeilge to show them how Irish is shaping the future.
“The actions of this plan will also be of great support to other work to come under the Act, including the introduction of the language standards system, and other duties relating to correctly recording names, titles and addresses in Irish and the availability of official forms in Irish or bilingually. I look forward to announcing more on all of this soon.
“This work also closely aligns with the language planning process, under which I published an independent review of the process to date yesterday. Many of the recommendations in that review relate to improving public services in the Gaeltacht. Having secured the largest ever increase for the Irish language and Gaeltacht sector in Budget 2026, an additional €3m will now be invested in the language planning process this year.
“Between that investment and the impact of the Action Plan published today, this process will also be accelerated in the coming period.”
A copy of the Action Plan for Irish Language Public Services 2026-2028 can be found here