The State has no definitive map of the Gaeltacht in spite of satellite technology which can produce highly accurate information, a group of academics have pointed out.
The absence of such a "basic tool" for implementing socio-economic and language policy is "astonishing", according to the group of geographers and linguists who have produced their own series of maps using geographical information systems (GIS).
Many contentious issues, such as Irish language planning conditions and eligibility for Gaeltacht grants, rely on having such information, according to Dr John Walsh of NUI Galway's Irish department, Emer Ní Bhrádaigh of Dublin City University and Dr Stephen McCarron and Patrick Duffy of NUI Maynooth's geography department.
The academics have produced GIS maps of the Gaeltacht, which were shown at a conference of Irish geographers in University College, Dublin at the weekend. "Our main aim was to provide the first ever definitive map of the Gaeltacht, since we couldn't source any such material from either Údarás or the Department of the Gaeltacht," Dr Walsh told The Irish Times.
The group compiled a database based on the first Gaeltacht legislation stretching back to 1928. The last major redrawing of the Gaeltacht in seven counties dates back to 1958, and the boundaries - which have always been politically sensitive - are the subject of another review due for publication later this year by researchers at NUI Galway.
However, Dr Walsh's team argues that the importance of the Gaeltacht's boundaries has increased. The most recent planning legislation has allowed local authorities like Galway to introduce Irish language conditions for housing developments, which could be challenged if an accurate delineation is unavailable.
Gaeltacht grants also rely on accurate information and incidents like the awarding of a grant to a quarry which was not officially in the Gaeltacht - reported in September 2004 - could also recur, his team argues.