The Government is committed to the new Language Bill if it is returned to office, the Minister of State for Rural Development, Mr Éamon Ó Cuív, has told the annual conference of Conradh na Gaeilge.
The legislation had just been published and had received the approval of the Government, Mr Ó Cuív said yesterday.
The Minister, who was instrumental in preparing the legislation during his time in Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, before being moved to Agriculture, said he had been to Canada to see how legislation there had been introduced to protect the minority language, French.
Mr Ó Cuív dismissed "conspiracy" claims of a delay in the Bill, and said that there was no point in appointing an ombudsman for the Irish language if there was no legislation to underpin that office's role. It is expected that the legislation will require all State organisations to provide an Irish language service, among other measures designed to protect the rights of minority language speakers.
Responding to Mr Ó Cuív's briefing, the Conradh na Gaeilge president, Mr Tomás Mac Ruairí, said he was disappointed that further detail had not been forthcoming. A former Conradh president, Mr Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, had paid tribute to the Minister of State for "making a grant speech on behalf of Fianna Fáil", and he would concur with that view.
It is understood that Mr Ó Cuív had been prepared to give the conference more specific information and had the support of his successor, Ms Mary Coughlan, but that officials in his former Department were not happy with this. The Bill is due to be given an official launch within the next week.
Earlier, Mr Mac Ruairí criticised the Minister for Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, for what he said was her lack of depth in understanding the role of RTÉ in national public service broadcasting.
Mr Mac Ruairí said he blamed Ms de Valera and the Government for failing to ensure that RTÉ was properly funded to meet the needs of a quality public broadcasting organisation.
"Bad, good or worse, and RTÉ enjoy all these traits, we the public own it . . . everyone one of us here must become actively involved at all levels to ensure that the station is saved, that it is preserved and that our national broadcasting service is fully developed."
The 200 delegates also paid tribute to the editor of Nuacht RTÉ, Mr Padraig Ó Gaora, when he received an award for his long service to the language.
