Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 May 2022
862. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of social media posts made on each of his Departmental social media accounts or the social media accounts of public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit that were exclusively in Irish between 1 May 2021 and 30 April 2022, inclusive; the percentage of same that feature bilingual translations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23042/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraCurrently, 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.
As regards posts to official Departmental social media accounts in the period from 1st May 2021 to 30th April 2022, 2.78% of the posts were exclusively in Irish and none were bilingual.
The Department’s third Irish Language Scheme came into effect on 1st April 2021.
As regards the 12 State Bodies under the aegis of the Department, the information requested is an operational matter for the State Bodies themselves. I have therefore referred the Deputy’s question to the Agencies and have requested that a response should issue to the Deputy within 10 days.
