Brian O'Shea
Question:257 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amount of money her Department has spent on the Irish language in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15080/03]
Written Answers. - Irish Language.
Brian O'Shea
Question:258 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her Department's objective in relation to its expenditure on the Irish language; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15094/03]
Brian O'Shea
Question:259 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the monitoring system her Department has in place in regard to her Department's objective in relation to the Irish language; the expenditure in achieving that objective; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15108/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 257 to 259, inclusive, together.
My Department, in recognition of the rights of customers to be dealt with in Irish if they so wish, makes every effort to ensure that service through Irish is available and of a high standard.
It is not possible to quantify the amount of money spent specifically on Irish in any given year. Providing services for customers through Irish involves translation and printing of forms and leaflets, training of staff in written and spoken Irish, and providing public area signage with both directions and information on the availability of service in Irish. The cost of the Irish element is, in many instances, included in the total cost and cannot be separately identified.
In anticipation of the enactment of the Official Languages Bill 2002, currently before the Oireachtas, my Department is providing specialised training courses in Irish for frontline staff in order to ensure that the requirements of the Bill as far as my Department's services are concerned are met. This is set to continue in future years as indicated in my Department's recently launched strategy statement 2003-05.
My Department's customer action plan includes a commitment to providing service through Irish and this objective is monitored as part of the overall monitoring of customer service. Since 2001, a comments and complaints system operates, allowing customers to express comments on the level of service they are receiving. This includes service through Irish and comments-complaints forms in Irish are available.