Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 February 2014
430. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if there is legislative provision which ensures that the requirements placed on Departments to provide services, information, application processes and so forth through the medium of Irish extend to any organisation or agency, new or otherwise, that is contracted to provide services once provided by central or local Government. [9703/14]
View answerIn general, section 2 of the Official Languages Act 2003 specifies that services, offered or provided (whether directly or indirectly) to the general public or a class of the general public by a public body, are covered under the Act. The Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment on a matter of legal interpretation. The First Schedule to the Act lists the public bodies that are covered under the Act, as updated by the Official Languages Act 2003 (Public Bodies) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 150 of 2006). The process for bringing public bodies under the Act is under consideration as part of the review of the legislation, which is due to be brought to Government very shortly.
