The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media Catherine Martin T.D., and the Minister of State for Gaeltacht and Sport Jack Chambers T.D. announced today Government have approved the preparation of legislation to give effect to a new approach in relation to how the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta is appointed.
As a result, an election/selection process will replace the current nomination/selection process that has been in place for the last ten years under Acht na Gaeltachta 2012. The Government will bring forward legislation on the matter to give effect to these changes which will come into effect at the beginning of 2025.
The proposed changes represent the outworking of the commitment in the Programme for Government, to undertake a review – which has recently been completed regarding how the board is appointed.
On foot of these changes, the board will consist of 16 members instead of the current 12 members when the two-year life-cycle of the incoming board ends in 2025. In place of seven members being nominated to the board by local authorities that have a Gaeltacht region within their area of jurisdiction - as has been the approach for the last ten years, 10 of the members will be elected on behalf of Gaeltacht areas and a further six members will be appointed on foot of a public competition. In keeping with the current approach, the Minister will appoint the Chairperson of the Board.
The following table sets out the distribution of the ten members to be elected under the revised approach - which takes account of the population in each of the Gaeltacht areas as appropriate:
Gaeltacht area | Number of seats |
Donegal | 2 |
Mayo | 1 |
Galway | 3 |
Kerry | 1 |
Cork | 1 |
Waterford | 1 |
Meath | 1 |
A further change will see the current arrangement set aside whereby members nominated from the three smallest Gaeltacht counties, Gaeltacht Mhúscraí, Gaeltacht na Mí and Gaeltacht na nDéise respectively, only have two years on the board; these areas will have permanent representation under the new arrangement, similar to the other Gaeltacht counties.
In addition to the change in the number of members and how they will be appointed, it is also intended that all candidates must have achieved a minimum standard of B2 in Irish in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Candidates seeking election must also show that they permanently reside in a Gaeltacht area within the county in respect of which they are seeking election. It will not be permitted for any board member to be a member of a local authority, to be a member of either House of the Oireachtas, or a member of the European Parliament. Rather than prohibiting any member from serving two consecutive terms on the board as is the current structure, the proposed changes mean that no future member will be allowed to spend more than two terms in total on the board, whether two periods are consecutive or otherwise.
In order to strengthen the link between the board and Gaeltacht communities including language planning groups, two regional committees will be established from board members. The two regional committees will advise the board on issues of concern to Gaeltacht communities. One committee will serve the Gaeltacht areas of Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Meath and one committee will serve the Gaeltacht areas of Kerry, Cork and Waterford.
The current Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta comprises 40% women 60% men. This Bill will be referred to the Oireachtas Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community for pre-legislative scrutiny. The Ministers will ask the Committee, as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process to examine measures to achieve appropriate gender balance in the selection / election process in line with Government policy on gender balance on State Boards.
Minister Catherine Martin said:
"Given that the work carried out by the Board and the executive of Údarás na Gaeltachta is for the benefit of the Gaeltacht communities, it is particularly important to ensure that there is as strong a link as possible between the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta and those communities. As a result of the proposed changes arising from the Government's decision on the matter, I expect that the link between the board and the Gaeltacht communities across the seven Gaeltacht counties will be further strengthened and that the new method governing the appointment of the board will serve the best interests of both the Údarás and the Gaeltacht regions. I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage women to seek appointment to State boards in general, and to the board Údarás na Gaeltachta in this instance.”
Minister of State Jack Chambers said:
"There has been a significant change over the last ten years in the work programme of Údarás. At the heart of these changes, is the language planning process. In order for Gaeltacht communities to have appropriate input to the work of the Údarás, there will be a larger board in future and each of the Gaeltacht counties will have a permanent seat on boards – including Gaeltacht Mhúscraí, na Mí and na nDéise. As a result of the other proposed changes, candidates from the Gaeltacht areas will be elected rather than being nominated by the local authorities. This is a major step forward which provides an even more democratic basis for how the board of an t-Údarás is appointed. These proposed changes represent the outworking of the commitment contained in the Programme for Government to undertake a review of how the board is appointed. Along with Minister Martin, I am happy that all these proposed changes will help to give an even stronger voice to the Gaeltacht communities as it relates to the work of Údarás na Gaeltachta on behalf of those communities."
Críoch
Note for the Editor
The current system for appointing the Board is based on a selection/nomination process.
The Údarás had thirteen (13) members when it was established under Acht um Údarás na Gaeltachta 1979: a chairperson and five other members appointed by the Minister, and seven other members elected. The method for appointment to the Board of Údarás was amended in 1999 resulting in an increase in membership from 13 to 20. Under this revised approach seventeen (17) members were elected and the Minister nominated the other three members – including the Chairperson of the Board. Elections were organised by the Department in conjunction with the Local Authorities.
The requirement in relation to elections was abolished in 2012, when the number of board members was reduced to twelve (12) members in accordance with the relevant provisions of Acht na Gaeltachta 2012.
Under the current arrangement the Board consists of five members nominated by the relevant Local Authorities that have a Gaeltacht area under their jurisdiction, instead of holding direct elections, as well as seven other members selected based on a public competition organised under the auspices of the Public Appointments Service (PAS). The Chairperson of the Board is appointed by the Minister.
Subject to the relevant provisions of the Act, the appointment is for a period of five years – with the exception of the counties with smaller Gaeltacht areas, namely: Counties Cork, Waterford and Meath. In the case of these counties the appointment is for a period of two years and rotate on the basis of the following rota: Meath, Cork and Waterford.
BDO was appointed earlier this year to undertake the aforementioned review. In undertaking the review, BDO consulted with interested parties, and incorporated opinions expressed as part of a public consultation process organised by the Department.
The final BDO report and the submissions received as a result of a public consultation process are available here.
As the five-year lifecycle of the current board ends in January, arrangements are currently underway to appoint a new board for two years subject to the current arrangements as set out under Acht na Gaeltachta 2012.