Official Languages Act 2003.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2004

Tuesday, 30 November 2004

Questions (115, 116, 117, 118)

Brian O'Shea

Question:

157 Mr. O’Shea asked the Taoiseach 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. [30944/04]

Brian O'Shea

Question:

158 Mr. O’Shea asked the Taoiseach if 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 such provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30945/04]

Brian O'Shea

Question:

161 Mr. O’Shea asked the Taoiseach the amount which has been spent by his Department in 2004 in regard to implementing the provisions of the Official Languages Act 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31138/04]

Brian O'Shea

Question:

162 Mr. O’Shea asked the Taoiseach the amount which has been spent by public bodies or agencies funded by his Department in 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31153/04]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 157, 158, 161 and 162 together.

My Department is committed to providing services through Irish. This is reflected in the Department's action plan 2001-04 which gives practical expression to the Government's commitment to deliver quality service to Irish speakers made in Delivering Better Government in 1996. Prior to enactment of the Official Languages Act 2003, my Department was proactive in implementing measures to promote the use of Irish. Those measures are set out generally in a reply which I gave to the Deputy last June in respect to similar questions.

My Department's strategy statement 2005-07 and the 2004 annual report will be published in 2005. Both documents will be available in Irish and English.

With regard to costs, it is not expected that implementation of the Official Languages Act 2003 will give rise to substantial costs additional to those which are being incurred prior to that enactment.

In so far as the day-to-day activities of the Department are concerned, it is generally not possible to distinguish separate costs for use of Irish, for example, in replying to correspondence or telephone calls. To the extent that separate costs for use of Irish can be identified, these are given below.

Year Translation Costs Incurred	Title of Document	Cost
		€
1999	Advertisement in Iris Oifigiúil SI of 1999 British Irish Agreement Act, 1999 (Commencement) Order, 1999	17.14
1999	The Report of the Interdepartmental Group (eWeb Publication)	1,401.00
2001	2000 Annual Report	2,151.37
2001	The Customer Action Plan 2001-4	2,967.00
2001	Bilingual reprint of the National Flag booklet	2,755.00 (approx).
2001	Cabinet Handbook	16,000.00 (figure updated from that given in PQ no.15243/04)
2002	Ireland and the European Union: Identifying Priorities and Pursuing Goals	2,240.00
2002	Advertisement in Iris Oifigiuil in Irish (British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act 2002 (Commencement) Order	17.14
2002	Translation & Printing of SI 522 of 2002 (British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act 2002 (Commencement) Order	155.16
2002	Strategy Statement to 31 December 2003	1,205.23
2002	Telecommunications Working Group Report	1,870.51
2002	Grangegorman Working Group Report	482.70
2002	The Green Paper on Basic Income	2,244.00
2003	DEC Telecommunications Working Group Report	1,870.51
2003	Ireland and the European Union: Identifying Priorities and Pursuing Goals (2nd edition)	3,313.00
2003	2001 Annual Report	2,783.00
	2002 Annual Report	5,396.80
	Strategy Statement 2003-2005*	1,885.60
2003	Code of Conduct for Office Holders	483.64.
2004	Statutory Instrument 664 of 2004 Statistics(Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order	44.77
2004	2003 Annual Report **	4,648.65
	Human Resource Strategy 2003-2005	3,386.97
2004	Department Customer Charter —	408.18
	Charter and Customer Comment/Complaints Procedure	6,912.75.
	The Charter was published bilingually
2004	Invitation-IFSC Lunch hosted by the Taoiseach	48.40
2004	Invitation re European Year of People with Disabilities	48.40
2004	Menu-IFSC Lunch hosted by the Taoiseach	48.40
2004	Invitation — Special Olympics Supporter Breakfast	48.40
2004	Booklet — National Day of Commemoration	60.50
2004	Departmental Legislation Website	484.48
2004	Mid-Term Review of Part Two of Sustaining Progress — Pay and the Workplace	817.17
2004	Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution’s notice inviting submissions on Family Rights	50.00
2004	Quality Customer Services — LINK Newsletter	2,850.00
2004	HRM/Co-ordination — LINK Newsletter	874.67
2004	Better Regulation — Summary of White Paper “Regulating Better”	713.89

* There are printing costs associated with printing the strategy statement in both Irish and English but as this was a combined Irish-English document it is not possible to extract the printing cost for the Irish version only.

** There are printing costs associated with printing the annual report in both Irish and English but as this was a combined Irish-English document it is not possible to extract the printing cost for the Irish version only.

The Government secretariat also arranges for Government notifications to be placed through Irish in Iris Oifigiúil. Expenditure incurred in placing such notifications for the years 1999 to 2004, January-October, is set down underneath.

Year	Cost
	€
1999	1,719
2000	3,909
2001	2,495
2002	4,958
2003	2,179
2004 (Jan-Oct)	1,806

As the Deputy is aware, section 11 of the Act provides for preparation by my Department, and individually by each of the bodies under its aegis, of a scheme in relation to the delivery of our services to the general public in the Irish language. In light of this, we propose to draft a scheme to ensure a higher standard and a better availability of our services through Irish. My Department is among the first of the public bodies to begin this process which will involve consultation with those who use my Department's services and who will be invited to make submissions to the preparation of the scheme. When completed, the draft scheme will be presented to the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs on the 28 March, 2005. I do not expect this scheme will give rise to significant additional costs and, consequently, it has not been necessary to make explicit separate or additional provision for this in the 2005 Estimates for my Department.