Vol. 575 No. 5
62 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress made to date in regard to the implementation of the Official Languages Act 2003; the role his Department will play in regard to monitoring the implementation of the provisions; if an assessment has been undertaken of the staffing implications for the public service generally of the provisions of the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28554/03]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 113 of 21 October 2003 in which I outlined progress to that date in relation to the implementation of the Official Languages Act 2003. Since then Part 5 of the Act, which deals with place names has been commenced and the first orders under that part have been made. The Department has recently published a bilingual booklet, Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003 Osradharc-Official Languages Act 2003 Overview, which outlines the main provisions of the Act and also provides answers in relation to a number of frequently asked questions about the Act.
Furthermore, €500,000 has been provided in the Estimates of my Department for 2004 for the establishment of oifig choimisinéir na dteangacha oifigiúla and for the appointment of an coimisinéir teanga. It is my intention that the office of the coimisinéir will be in put in place early in 2004. My Department is currently engaged in necessary preparatory work in that regard. The position with regard to assessment of the Irish language needs of individual public bodies is as set out in my previous reply.
Question No. 63 answered with Question No. 53.
