John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to refer briefly to the official languages Bill. Mr. Hamill mentions that it is on the A list, with the National Concert Hall Bill. There is an historical issue with the official languages Bill which I have raised for many years. It relates to the translation of documents. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been involved to a degree on this issue through its Secretary General. My concern was that we were wasting money which I believed should have been put into Irish language promotion. The money was being spent on the publication of all documents in Irish. There is an example I always use. The stream of funding for secondary school children who wish to take the leaving certificate through Irish ends after second year. It was pointed out to me that this was ridiculous. The Government is printing all of these documents when the money should be put into children's education if they wish to do the leaving certificate through Irish. As it is a good example, I raised the issue. Is something being done in the Bill about the translation of documents? If so, will the money be channelled back into Irish language promotion?