Government approves nomination for Coimisinéir Teanga role

The Government has recommended the selection of Séamas Ó Concheanainn as the new Coimisinéir Teanga.

Originally from An Spidéal in Co Galway, Mr Ó Concheanainn is currently working as director of the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga.

He will replace Rónán Ó Domhnaill who resigned earlier this year after nine years as Coimisinéir to take up a role as media development commissioner with Coimisiún na Meán (Media Commission).

His selection follows a recruitment competition run by the Public Appointments Service (PAS).

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Mr Ó Concheanainn worked previously in leadership positions at the University of Galway and has extensive experience of working in areas including language legislation, higher education, language planning, and community development and rural revitalisation.

The office of An Coimisinéir Teanga is an independent statutory office which operates as an ombudsman service and as a compliance agency.

The Coimisinéir’s role is to monitor compliance by public bodies with the provisions of the Official Languages Act, investigate complaints from the public about alleged breaches of the legislation, and to provide advice to the public regarding their language rights.

Under the Languages (Amendment) Act 2021, which came into effect last year, the Government has committed to improve the quality of services in Irish provided to the public by State bodies. The legislation, which was a strengthening of the original 2003 Languages Act, also extends the scope of the office of An Coimisinéir Teanga to include a series of new provisions aimed at strengthening the language rights of Irish speakers.

The main goals of the legislation include that all public services in the Gaeltacht will be provided in Irish, and from 2030, that at least 20 per cent of all recruits to the public service will be proficient Irish speakers.

A yearly report published by the office highlights the significant barriers faced by citizens wishing to interact with the State through Irish.

The most recent annual report, published in April, said An Coimisinéir Teanga’s office received 600 complaints from the public in 2022 with one in every five complaints coming from the Gaeltacht, and one in every four from Co Dublin. An 81 per cent increase was also reported from public bodies seeking advice relating to their obligations under the recently updated language legislation.

The Government’s recommendation for the selection of Séamas Ó Concheanainn as the new Coimisinéir Teanga must be approved by the Dáil and the Seanad, before the formal appointment by President Michael D Higgins takes place in the Autumn.