Public bodies spent €20.7m on Irish-language advertising in 2025, passing the €20m for the first time, according to an audit by Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga.
The figure covers total spending in all media, including English and Irish-language media. Spending on advertising in Irish-language media, however, reached €6.3m, up 19% on 2024.
Under section 10A of the Official Languages Act, public bodies must carry out at least 20% of their annual advertising in Irish. They must also spend at least 5% of their annual advertising budgets on Irish-language advertising in Irish-language media.
The audit examined the advertising activities of 401 public bodies.
The commissioner’s office said public bodies that advertised met both statutory thresholds collectively, on average. It said that it was continuing its audit work to ensure compliance by individual organisations.
An Coimisinéir Teanga, Séamas Ó Concheanainn, said: “It is good news that public bodies have spent over €20 million on advertising in Irish for the first time ever.
“The impact of this new language legislation, which is going from strength to strength, is evident in the increase in the presence and visibility of the Irish language on new traditional and digital media.
“The huge increase in advertising in Irish is also creating new revenue streams for the Irish language media sector.”
The advertising requirements came into force on October 10, 2022, following the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 and they apply to organisations including government departments, local authorities and educational institutions.
This is the third audit report on the implementation of the provisions.
