Public bodies spent €19 million on Irish language advertising in 2024, a 34 per cent increase from the previous year, according to a yearly audit released by An Coimisinéir Teanga.
The 2024 Irish language spend includes €5.2 million spent solely on Irish language media, an increase of €1.4m, or 37 per cent, on the previous year.
The annual report covering 397 public bodies showed that Irish language advertising now accounts for just over 20 per cent of total advertising spend, up from a total of €14.2 million, or 15 per cent, in 2023.
Advertising was placed across all media channels, including television, radio, social media and newspapers.
RM Block
While not all State bodies met their target spend, 2024 was the first year the public sector as a whole met the legal threshold for Irish language advertising under language rights legislation.
Overall, public bodies spent €93.4 million on advertising in both languages in 2024, down four per cent from €97.3 million the previous year. This drop was attributed in part to the conclusion of Covid-19 advertising campaigns.
The figures show that in 2024 €74.5 million, or 79.8 per cent of the ad spend, went on English language advertising.
The amount spent on advertising in Irish on English language media increased from €10.4 million in 2023 to €13.7 million last year, representing a 32 per cent increase.
Under the Official Languages Act, public bodies are obliged to spend at least 5 per cent of their annual advertising budget on Irish language media, while at least 20 per cent of all advertising has to be in Irish across Irish and English language media.
An Coimisinéir Teanga Séamas Ó Concheanainn described the increase as “encouraging”, adding that the increased presence and visibility of Irish “is a promising sign for the strengthening of the Irish language nationally”.
“The growth of Irish language media and the additional revenue streams created by the legislation are welcome,” he said.
The Official Languages Act, first introduced in 2003, and amended in 2021, aims to strengthen the language rights of the Irish-speaking community by improving the provision of public services in Irish.
Section 10A of the Act, which sets out minimum spending thresholds on Irish language advertising, is viewed as a crucial support for the expanding Irish language media industry.
More broadly, increased Irish language content across Irish and English language media sectors plays an important role in increasing the visibility of the language in the public sphere as a whole.
The report is the second audit that the Office of the Language Commissioner has published on the implementation of section 10A of the Act.
