Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 February 2015
198. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she is implementing a plain English policy, as outlined by the National Adult Literacy Agency, in her Department's communications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7281/15]
View answerMy Department accepts the NALA recommendation that plain English be embedded across the public sector. In that regard the use of plain English is an integral part of the Department's communications strategy.
With regard to the Department's website, in 2012 training on "Writing for the Web" was delivered to staff responsible for publishing content on www.education.ie. Understanding the importance of using plain English was a key objective of this course. Guidelines on Writing for the Web - Business Writing Skills include advice on using Plain English and are available to all staff on my Department's Intranet. The Department fully engaged in the interdepartmental Quality Customer Service (QCS) initiative, which provided guidelines for the use of plain English in the public service, including guidlelines on Customer Charters and for complaints procedures.
In this regard, to ensure that each Department's publications - including Customer Charters and Action Plans – are easy for customers to read and to understand, a number of staff received communications and plain language training/assistance. The Department's representative on the QCS Officers' Network also received plain English training, and encourages frontline staff in the use of plain language. In this regard, my Department adopted Guidelines on the use of plain English in Department circulars, requiring staff to consider the NALA guidelines as part of the process of preparing a Department Circular for publication.
