A Government minister indicated tonight that foreign languages like Mandarin or Cantonese may become one of the country's official languages if enough native speakers live here.
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr O Cuiv said English and Irish were currently the only official languages recognised by the Constitution and by the State.
But he said: "I presume some time in the future if there are sufficient speakers of other languages ... the Oireachtas and the people ... might seek to change the official languages of this State. I don't think it's an issue for the present."
The minister and native Irish speaker was responding to a Dail question by Labour's Gaeltacht spokesman Mr Brian O'Shea that the Official Languages Act 2003 should be amended to include Mandarin and Cantonese.
Mr O'Shea quoted a recent Sunday Tribune article which claimed that there were more people speaking Chinese than native Irish as a first language on a daily basis.
The article reported that there were currently 50,000 Chinese nationals speaking Mandarin or Cantonese as a first language compared to 45,000 daily Irish speakers.
"What exactly has gone wrong in this State? We spent huge resources in developing the Irish language and here we find this comparison," said the Waterford TD, who is preparing a position paper on the language.
He said Ireland was becoming a multicultural society and other world languages will become more popular soon. But Mr O Cuiv replied: "The influx of people into the country has changed attitudes towards languages and I would see that as a very welcome step."