asked the Minister for Labour whether or not in accordance with Bord na Gaeilge's action plan for Irish, 1983-86: (1) a responsible officer has been appointed within his Department; (2) whether an Irish Development Committee has been established; and (3) the stage of preparation the action programme for Irish has reached within his Department.
Written Answers. - Action Plan for Irish.
140.
(1) A responsible officer for Irish language matters at Higher Executive Officer level has been appointed in my Department. (2) An Irish development committee has been established. (3) Action is being taken on departmental plans on the lines set out in the Action Plan for Irish, 1983-86 as follows: In co-operation with the form design unit of the Civil Service Training Centre all forms used by members of the public are in course of being produced in bilingual form. Some forms, for example, those relating to the teamwork programme have been bilingual from the start.
All statutory forms are available in Irish and English as required. Irish versions of all career information leaflets are available.
Where officers of the Department deal directly with Gaeltacht communities, there are officers able and willing to carry out their duties through Irish.
Officers of the Department who transact business through Irish are available to callers.
Regular social meetings are held between members of staff fluent in Irish and others interested in developing their fluency. It is intended to include Irish music in these sessions in the future.
Many of the staff attend Gaeleagras courses and get every encouragement to do so.