Irish language proficiency will be required for occupiers of new housing developments in Gaeltacht areas, following a series of landmark rulings by An Bord Pleanála.
However, the policy won't apply to single houses, and the appeals board will be guided by census figures for daily use of Irish in determining how many dwellings should be occupied by Irish-speakers.
Fluency will also be determined under existing standards set for Gaeltacht housing, relating to the head of the household, rather than by any specific new test, the appeals board has ruled.
The board's policy on protecting the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht, as underpinned by the new Planning Act, is signalled in two of three rulings issued yesterday in relation to permission for new housing developments in the Connemara and Kerry Gaeltachtaí.
The third ruling involved an appeal by residents of the Gaeltacht village of Spiddal, Co Galway, against a scheme of 17 new houses on lands formerly owned by Lord Killanin at Bothuna.
The board rejected the appeal - which was the subject of a hearing late last year - because the initial outline planning approval was awarded under the old county development plan. The previous plan did not allow for language protection.
The two cases where linguistic conditions must be imposed by legal agreement involve a development in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry, and in Furbo, Co Galway. Permission received from Kerry County Council by a Dingle company, Southbound Properties, for the development in Ballyferriter carried a number of conditions, including the use of Irish names for the development.
However, the linguistic aspect wasn't considered to be specific enough by appellant Donncha Ó hEallaithe, an Irish-language activist based at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
He lodged an appeal on behalf of a group of local residents, and An Bord Pleanála has ruled that 75 per cent of the dwellings actually constructed must be lived in by Irish-speakers.
This percentage is based on census figures for Irish-language use in this Kerry Gaeltacht area and must be secured in a legal agreement between the developer and the local authority.
The appeals board has also ruled that 60 per cent of a residential development with retail and office space in Furbo, Co Galway, will have to be occupied by Irish speakers - a percentage also based on census figures for daily Irish use.
Planning permission had been granted to Tom Burke, a local businessman, by Galway County Council.
It was appealed by Páidí Ó Donnchú on the basis that the local authority had not met its full obligations under the county development plan in relation to protection of the language.
In both the Furbo and Ballyferriter cases, the language conditions apply for the next 15 years and residential units let for less than three months a year for holiday purposes will be exempt.
The board also emphasises that the census figures will be used as a guide, but not an "absolute" one.
"In some instances, the board may choose to increase the percentage of residential units to be occupied by Irish-speakers," it says.
