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Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Answer

Mr. Wilson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on initiatives taken through the British Irish Council to advance minority indigenous languages in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Ireland following the discussions at the Fifth Summit. [222849] Mr. Lammy: At the Fifth Summit of the British-Irish Council, it was agreed that members would: Jointly consider outcomes of research into inter-generational language transmission; Carry out an assessment of structures supporting indigenous language learning in adult education in each of the BIC administrations; Work together to identify priorities for their respective indigenous language use surveys; Consider together the potential benefits of co-operating on the development of language use surveys; Share information on their experiences of the relationship between planning policy and linguistic considerations. This work has been carried forward by the Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages Sectoral Group of the council, which is led by the Welsh Assembly Government. The group has decided to focus on three specific areas, namely language transmission within the family, the teaching of Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages in the field of education and Information and Communications Technology.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c610-1W; 222849

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Cross border cooperation Languages Northern Ireland Minority groups Scotland Republic of Ireland Wales British Irish Council

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk