Advertising

What is in the legislation:

Advertising by public bodies

  • 6. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 10:
  • “10A. (1) A public body shall ensure that—
  • (a) at least 20 per cent of any advertising placed by the body in any year shall be in the Irish language, and
  • (b) at least 5 per cent of any money expended by the body on advertising in any year shall be used to place advertising in the Irish language through Irish language media.

  • (2) In this section— ‘advertising’ means—
  • (a) any form of commercial communication with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting a product or service of the public body concerned, and
  • (12) (b) any form of communication, to the public, in respect of—

  • (i) the recruitment of staff,
  • (ii) legislative or policy initiatives,
  • (iii) the purchase or sale of land or assets,
  • (iv) the provision of services, or
  • (v) public consultation;

‘Irish language media’ means any media where 50 per cent or more of the content of that media is through the Irish language.”
Official Languages Act, (Amendment), 2021

When this legislative provision came into effect

The provision came into effect on 10 October 2022.

Definition: advertising

Any form of commercial communication with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting a product or service of the public body concerned, and

  • (b) any form of communication, to the public, in respect of—
  • (i) the recruitment of staff,
  • (ii) legislative or policy initiatives,
  • (iii) the purchase or sale of land or assets,
  • (iv) the provision of services, or
  • (v) public consultation;

Definition: Irish Language Media

Any media where 50 per cent or more of the content of that media is through the Irish language

What this means for me, an Irish Language service user

You will see and hear more advertisements in Irish by companies that fall under the scope of this legislation and on Irish language media.

Standard of Irish language in advertisements

You should expect a high standard of Irish, both written and spoken, in the advertisements you will see and hear, including a high standard of syntax, grammar, translation (if applicable) and pronunciation.

What this means for me, an Irish Language service provider

Regarding advertising:

  • which you do on your own websites and social media,
  • which you buy from a third party such as a TV channel, radio station, newspaper and so on,

The designated body providing services in the Irish Language must ensure the following:

  • That at least 20% (see the appropriate section below) of any advertising you buy in any given year will be in Irish.
  • You must spend at least 5% of annual advertising spend on Irish language advertising on the Irish language media (see definition above).

Advertising also involves any form of communication to the public in respect of:

  • the recruitment of staff,
  • legislative or policy initiatives,
  • the purchase or sale of land or assets,
  • the provision of services,
  • public consultation.

What 20% on different media means for us, an Irish Language service provider:

Definition: Copy rotation

This can also be called ad rotation, and involves displaying several ads in one place on a web page. The ads can rotate or alternate each time the page is loaded, while a visitor is on that page or both of those scenarios.

Measurement of 20%MeasureDescription
MediaRequirementsDetails
Video on demand AdvertisingCopy rotation 1 in 5 OR % of Total ImpressionsImpressions are when an advertisement or any other form of digital media renders on a user’s screen.
OOH – Out of Hone/Outdoor Advertising% of Total Number of Outdoor SitesTotal number of Poster Sites booked for the campaign

Audio Advertising		Copy rotation 1 in 5 OR % of Total ImpressionsDigital Audio by % of total impressions

Print/Magazine Advertising		Copy rotation 1 in 5 OR% of Total Circulation (estimates where no Audit Bureau Circulation data).Circulation refers to number of copies sold on an average day, week or month depending on the frequency of publication

Social Media		Copy rotation 1 in 5 OR% of Total ImpressionsImpressions are when an advertisement or any other form of digital media renders on a user’s screen.

Cinema Advertising		Copy rotation 1 in 5 OR% of Total Admissions
Admissions or Cinema visits


Radio Advertising
Copy rotation 1 in 5 OR% of Total Listenership		% of total average listenership (the number of people who listen to a given radio station) (89k weekly reach Kerry Radio)
Digital Display AdvertisingCopy rotation 1 in 5 OR% of Total ImpressionsImpressions are when an advertisement or any other form of digital media renders on a user’s screen.
TV AdvertisingCopy rotation 1 in 5 OR% of Total TVRs
TV Rating Points

Publicity material that does not fall within the scope of this legislation:

  • Digital Content that runs on own media only, e.g. information about services, products etc. on your own media
  • Press Releases
  • Brochures
  • Newsletters
  • In-house magazines
  • Blogs
  • Paid Search Advertising, e.g. if you pay search engines to place your company or your company’s services or products higher on relevant search engine results
  • Shares, e.g. if you share second party content on your own media. However, if you pay to boost content, it is treated as advertising content and is subject to this provision of the Act.
  • Posts and Reposts (of content other than advertisements)
  • Reviews
  • Influencers, e.g. if influencers promote/publicise your company or your services or products.

Further information and FAQs

It is recommended that you continue to monitor this item on the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga’s website where further details on what this provision entails, and a list of Irish language media is available.

Téamaí