Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 April 2021
1149. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which his Department and agencies under his remit facilitate persons wishing to engage with their services through the Irish language; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21896/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department ensures that customers seeking to transact business in Irish can do so. Arrangements are in place so that switchboard and reception staff can put members of the public in touch, at the earliest opportunity, with an officer who can converse in Irish. Correspondence received by my Department in Irish is responded to in Irish. In translating the response into Irish, the quality of the response to correspondence in Irish is equal to that in English.
Both of the Department’s Gaeltacht offices are Fishery Harbour Centres. One is located in Ros a Mhíl, Co. Galway and the other in An Daingean, Co. Kerry. These offices represent the most direct interface which my Department has with Irish speakers and, as a consequence, their capacity to provide a high level of services through Irish is very important to the Department and its customers.
In the two offices, of the 13 staff employed, 10 can fully transact Department business in Irish while the remaining three members of staff have conversational Irish. The Department, therefore, can provide a full service through Irish in these Gaeltacht locations and is committed to filling future vacancies with Irish speakers as far as possible. All competitions which involve posts headquartered in an office situated in a Gaeltacht area have requirements in terms of Irish and English on an equal standing.
In addition to the two Gaeltacht offices, my Department has identified a further four posts which require functional bilinguals. This is with a view to being able to facilitate customers who wish to transact business through Irish. We have three Agricultural Inspector positions designated to provide services through Irish in areas where there is a demand including Cork, Kerry, Donegal, Mayo, Leitrim and Galway. The Department was unable to recruit an Irish speaker to fill the remaining post but hopes to be able to do so when the opportunity arises.
Currently, the Department publishes its audited accounts or financial statements as well as any document setting out policy proposals in Irish and English. In addition to meeting its obligations under Section 10 of the Official Languages Act 2003, to publish certain documents in both official languages simultaneously, the Department publishes other corporate documents, such as the Customer Charter and Customer Action Plan, the Farmers’ Charter of Rights and the Schemes and Services booklet, in both Irish and English. The Department publishes all Departmental press releases bilingually.
The Department's website has moved onto the gov.ie portal www.gov.ie/agriculture. This portal enables users to view certain documents in either Irish or English. Work to translate all of the services published on the website is ongoing in conjunction with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. This will increase dramatically the amount of information available bi-lingually.
The Department’s third Irish Language Scheme came into effect on 1 April 2021.
As regards the twelve State Bodies under the aegis of my Department, the information requested is an operational matter for the State Bodies themselves. I have referred the Deputy’s question to the Agencies and have requested that a response should issue within 10 days.
