Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 28:

In page 50, after line 17, to insert the following:“Amendment of National Shared Services Office Act 201774. Section 6 of the National Shared Services Office Act 2017 is amended in subsection (1) by the substitution of “an Oifig Náisiúnta Seirbhísí Comhroinnte” for “Oifig Náisiúnta Seirbhísí Comhroinnte”.”.

This is a technical amendment to section 6 of the National Shared Services Office Act 2007 to correct an error in the Irish translation of the English name of the office. The English version of the title in section 6(1) is the National Shared Services Office; the definite article, "the", is included. In the Irish language version provided, Oifig Náisiúnta Seirbhísí Comhroinnte, the definite article was omitted. There are two articles in use in the English language, the definite article, "the", and the indefinite article, "a" or "an". As a result, omitting the definite article in English - this is like my leaving certificate modh coinníolach - does not render the noun indefinite. The use of the indefinite article serves for that purpose. For this reason, the definite article is regularly omitted in titles in English as it allows for the use of a more concise title in signage, for example the "Department of Education and Skills" or the title head of section 6. However, this is not possible in the Irish language as an omission of the definite article automatically renders a noun indefinite. The article "the" is clearly intended and expressed in the English version of the title in section 6(1) but in the Irish-language title, the article "an" is omitted. The purpose of the amendment is to correct this oversight.

An amendment is also required to the Long Title of the Bill to reflect that it provides an amendment to the National Shared Services Office Act 2017. This is provided for in amendment No. 31, which also provides for the insertion of a reference to the amendment to the Ministers and Secretaries Act of 2011 in the Long Title of the Bill. This relates to section 72 of the Bill, which provides for an amendment to section 17(a) of the Ministers and Secretaries Act to allow the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to collect and process public service information under Part 5 of this Bill. This reference should have been included in the Long Title when the Bill was first published but was omitted due to an oversight. The amendment is technical in nature and is intended to correct this.