Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 January 2014
142. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the estimated number and percentage of civil servants who are competent to carry out their duties through the medium of Irish and English in his Department; his views on whether this number is adequate; his plans to increase this number and percentage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2631/14]
View answerThere are no posts within my Department where a competence in Irish is a prerequisite. In order that my Department can respond to communications received in Irish, arrangements are in place whereby three staff who are competent in Irish have volunteered to assist business units in responding to such communications through Irish. In addition, the Department is committed to exploring the provision of appropriate training for staff who wish to enhance their Irish language skills and who will make these available to the Department as required.
My Department is aware of its obligations under the Official Languages Act, 2003 and is committed to communicating through the medium of Irish to clients who wish to transact their business with the Department through the Irish language. In addition, my Department makes available an Irish language version of its website which facilitates engagement through the medium of the Irish language. Notwithstanding this commitment, a survey of staff which was conducted in 2012 to ascertain the level of demand experienced by the Department for services through Irish confirmed that the number of communications received in Irish in recent years has been very low.
