Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 November 2004
166 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if any provision has been made in the 2005 Estimates for his Department for the cost of implementing the provisions of the Official Languages Act 2003; the amount of any such provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30796/04]
View answer167 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amount of money that has been spent in each of the past five years on the Irish language in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30810/04]
View answerI propose take Questions Nos. 166 and 167 together.
It has always been an objective of my Department to aim to provide quality customer service in Irish. This included provision for translation of forms, leaflets and other documents, training of staff in spoken and written Irish, and providing bilingual signage in public areas. While expenditure in regard to these various aspects has occurred, it is not possible in all cases to separate the costs from other costs.
The following data show expenditure in the areas concerned since 2000 was as follows:
|
Year |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 (to date) |
|
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
|
|
Translation |
726 |
8,007 |
13,526 |
72,733 |
18,990 |
|
Training |
3,484 |
25,665 |
20,897 |
56,436 |
48,029 |
|
Signage (bilingual) |
4,795 |
2,246 |
21,949 |
37,873 |
20,761 |
In addition, an element of staff costs would have arisen where, for example, translation was carried out by staff proficient in Irish.
My Department's Estimates for 2005 include an amount of €500,000 directly in respect of the implementation of the Official Languages Act 2003. This will not represent total expenditure on Irish in 2005 but it is difficult to separate the portion in respect of Irish from training costs, etc. My Department is currently in the process of drawing up its statutory scheme for the provision of services through Irish under Section 12 of the Act.
