WE asked you what you thought of the announcement that all people applying for job vacancies advertised by the Welsh Government must now have a basic "courtesy" level of Welsh.

It comes as the Welsh Government has published its new five-year Work Programme for Cymraeg 2050, the national strategy to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

The programme, first set out in 2017, plans to reach a million Welsh speakers and double the language’s daily use by 2050.

One of the measures to spark debate is that all candidates for Welsh Government jobs must show basic levels of Welsh language skills - either on application or within six months of starting.

There are concerns this would prevent otherwise qualified candidates from applying for positions.

Conservative Senedd member Tom Giffard wrote on Twitter: "The Welsh Government is becoming a closed shop. I'm proud to speak Welsh, but why should be excluding the 75% of people in Wales that don't from working for the Welsh Government? Shouldn't we just be appointing the best person for the job?"

We asked YOU what you thought on our Facebook page:

  • Joyce Christopher said: "Most definitely not! It is discriminatory and potentially would exclude candidates who would be better suited to task in hand."
  • In reply, Paul Owen said: "Most of us are not the exceptional irreplaceable at work people we believe ourselves to be. This is not family life. Virtually every role could see a person replaced in a few days. The 'better suited' argument is not a real argument. One of the requirements will be 'proper pronunciation of place names'. Is that an unreasonable ask of a government employee? Is giving more prominence to the Welsh language (in Wales) an unreasonable ask?"
  • Richard Platt said: "You have to speak English to get a job in the English government so what is different with having to speak Welsh? Shall we go back to when school children were punished for speaking Welsh?"
  • Tracey Williams said: No discrimination. Six months to achieve the basic level that they are asking for is not discrimination. If you can't manage that then you're not likely to be the best candidate to be fair."
  • Sandra Berkshire said: "It should always be the best person for the job regardless of the language they speak. The majority of LA jobs aren’t public facing and Welsh isn’t required."
  • Kerry Nain Evans said: "Yes. If you worked for the French government speaking French would be helpful."
  • Roy Davies said: "Absolutely. You would have to speak English to work in council/government jobs in England."
  • Paul Smith said: "You probably should be able to speak the language of the country if you work for thier government. It shows respect."
  • Matthew William Winson said: "I always see it like this, if you moved to France, would you need to speak French?? If you moved to Germany would you need to speak German? If you answered yes to the above then speaking Welsh if living and working in Wales is just normal, and common sense."
  • Nick James said: "Born here, live here. Limited ability to speak Welsh. Ex wife Mexican, 2nd wife Mandarin speaker. I'm happy with my few words of a few languages and English as my main. Proud to be Welsh but don't want to be 2nd rate Welsh Citizen due to my limited Welsh."
  • Fiona Cliffe said: "English speakers in Wales are already catered for. Welsh speakers are still having to use a second language though. It doesn’t harm anyone to learn the courtesy of greeting at least."
  • Tracey Williams said: "Absolutely, they are asking for basic courtesy Welsh within six months of appointment. Nothing more than that."
  • Ruth AL Carr-Purviss said: "It doesn't hurt to learn Welsh. In fact learning a new language is good for brain development. LOTS of people could do with that for starters..."
  • Karen Bishop said: I have lived in Wales all my life and I can’t speak Welsh. Why? Because we were not taught it in school. While you have English taught as a main language with one maybe two lessons of Welsh a week how do you expect us to speak Welsh?"
  • Tracey Williams said: "For the basic Welsh that they require after six months of being appointed, it really isn't that difficult. It's probably around the level that a lot of people would learn for a holiday abroad."
  • Charlotte Fflapiau Tomlinson said: "Yes it should. You don’t see people crying about inclusivity when forklifting jobs require you to have a forklifting license… what’s different about this?"
  • In reply, Steve Robinson said: "Forklifts could kill some one if your not qualified to operate one, you could start there. Speaking Welsh not really going to kill or hurt some one."
  • Jason Lewis said: "A basic understanding should be a minimum requirement."
  • Paul Owen saidL "Great stuff... Imagine the outrage from those who have spent decades here and take pride in not being able to pronounce place names..."
  • Michael Cresswell said: "Definitely discriminatory, it should not be allowed."
  • Dewi Elaine Parry Williams said: "I'm Welsh and I say no."
  • Gary Bryan said: "I'm Welsh, the next thing will be if you can't speak Welsh you must move out of Wales."