Brian O'Shea
Question:191 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the amount of money his Department has spent on the Irish language in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15074/03]
Written Answers. - Irish Language.
Brian O'Shea
Question:192 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his Department's objective in relation to its expenditure on the Irish language; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15088/03]
Brian O'Shea
Question:193 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the monitoring system his Department has in place in regard to his Department's objective in respect of the Irish language; the expenditure in achieving that objective; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15102/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 191 to 193, inclusive, together.
My Department and the national cultural institutions make every effort to facilitate the public and staff who wish to use the Irish language. It is my Department's policy to make all key publications and leaflets available in both Irish and English and the Department's stationery is in bilingual form. In addition, it is departmental policy to place all advertisements in both languages. Furthermore, the staff of my Department are encouraged to attend Irish language improvement courses on a regular basis. It would not be possible to estimate with any degree of accuracy the amount of money my Department has spent on the Irish language as the use of Irish is treated as an integral part of the service provided by the Department.