Legislation

The aim of the Official Languages Act 2003 and the Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 2021 is to increase and improve in an organised manner, over a period of time, the quantity and quality of services provided for the public through Irish by public bodies. The legislation intends to create a space for the language in public affairs in Ireland.

An amendment was made to the Official Languages Act in section 62 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011. The amendment means that any Act of the Oireachtas may be published online in one official language before it is printed and published simultaneously in both official languages.

An amendment was also made in section 48 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 to a provision of Statutory Instrument (No. 872 of 2004) – Placenames Order (Gaeltacht Districts) 2004 – in so far as it relates to the placename, ‘An Daingean’. This amendment confirms that ‘Daingean Uí Chúis’ in Irish and ‘Dingle’ in English are now the official placenames where ‘An Daingean’ was used previously.