Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We have almost reached the end of the time allotted to this subject. I shall ask a few questions and then we will have another round starting with the issue of bureaucracy. We have a lot of time after that so we can be a bit more flexible.

One of the opening statements mentioned a diploma in public service interpretation that would be similar to that used in the UK. How are interpretation services handled in other European countries? Are diploma and language skill requirements on a legislative footing or how are they done? I ask as I would like to know what practical things this committee can recommend or do in this regard.

I want to discuss lesser spoken languages. For example, I needed people to translate languages that are similar to Dari and Farsi. The translators were native speakers of Dari and Farsi who had come here as migrants. The situation caused concerns because these communities are very small and people were needed to interpret something sensitive. Equally, I am conscious that if we require a university degree there are not very many universities that teach Farsi, for example. Equally, would that put a roadblock in front of migrants who are here from using their language skills as part of their integration and job seeking?

To recap, are language requirements on a legislative footing in other countries? Please also address my concerns about freezing people out.