Parliament worried by lack of detail on Gael plan

A HOLYROOD committee has raised concerns about a plan to promote Gaelic on the grounds that it is so wide-reaching it is difficult to determine its priorities.

The education and culture committee has broadly welcomed the plan but said it had concerns about its overall strategy and priorities.

In a report published yesterday, the committee responded to the draft National Gaelic Language Plan 2012-17 put out to consultation by Bord na Gàidhlig, the public body established to promote and encourage the use of the language.

Committee convener Stewart Maxwell, an SNP MSP, said: “We welcome the bord’s draft plan, which is an ambitious one. However, its full and effective implementation will require greater focus and coherence, along with close partnership working between the bord and the bodies that will be responsible for putting it into practice.

“The committee is concerned the plan is so wide-reaching and broadly focused that it is difficult to identify an overall strategy and determine the most important priorities.

“We recommend further thought be given to establishing what the key priorities for the bord are between now and 2017 and how these are to be achieved, particularly in the current financial climate.”

Under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, Bord na Gàidhlig is required to prepare and submit to Scottish ministers a national Gaelic language plan detailing how it plans to exercise its functions under the act.

The plan aims to arrest the decline in Gaelic speakers in Scotland by expanding the range of situations in which the language is used.

It also seeks to attain stability in the Gaelic-speaking population by raising the rate at which new speakers become fluent to “replacement level”, the level at which the loss of mostly older Gaelic speakers is balanced by the growth of new speakers.