Mr. Robert Watt:

I am attending with Mr. Muiris O'Connor, assistant secretary in the Department of Health and Ms Jade Pepper, the Department of Health's Irish-language officer. We were invited here, along with our colleagues in the HSE, to discuss the various languages through which the HSE and the Department of Health provide and advertise their services to the public, with particular reference to the Irish language.

This committee has examined our record on the provision of services through Irish in a detailed way in recent sessions which were attended by my colleagues. I acknowledge the feedback we received on foot of those conversations and debates. We have moved to correct mistakes which have occurred in the context of our response to the pandemic and to ensure that our services are available in Irish for those who require it. I am happy to report that, as a Department, we have further strengthened our capacity to manage correspondence and to provide for services in Irish, for those who require or desire it.

Our efforts to incorporate Irish into our response to the Covid pandemic have been examined in detail by the committee during the most recent meeting between officials and this committee. We have learned lessons and we have strengthened our capacity to ensure that the needs of Irish speakers are accommodated in our response to the pandemic.

With regard to digital Covid certificates, a bilingual online portal has been available since August 2021, where people can arrange for changes and corrections to their certificates, among other things. We have seen a substantial take-up of this service, as Gaeilge, by members of the public since its launch, with thousands of citizen interactions with our service centre and online webchat.

With regard to public health notices and health promotion materials, I can confirm that the Department made every effort to fulfil the obligations of the Official Languages Act 2003 during an extremely challenging time for the Department. All printed materials created by the Department were available bilingually at the same time.

The Department regularly posted public health advice across social channels in Irish and in English and statements from the Chief Medical Officer and deputy chief medical officer, outlining and reiterating the public health advice, were available bilingually on the Department’s website soon after publication. All printed advertisements placed in regional and national newspapers by the Department were also available bilingually. The Department’s press office continues to provide a service in Irish to Irish-language media.

In our commitment to health service improvement and to the implementation of Sláintecare reforms, we will have opportunities to refresh our approach to the delivery of services in Irish and in other languages besides English. In the coming week, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, will be bringing a plan to the Government for the introduction of regional health areas.

A key objective of the regional health areas is to ensure the delivery of health and social care services consistent with the needs and requirements of the local population. It is envisaged that this will permit a fresh approach to the provision of services in Irish and in other languages consistent with the evolving requirements of households and communities at regional level.

As accounting officer of the Department of Health, I ensure that my officials are aware of all their responsibilities, including as regards the provision of services in Irish. I am satisfied that this is an area in which we, as a Department, have been able to greatly improve over recent years and we are now in a position where we can manage all departmental business through Irish or English, as desired. We learned a lot through the pandemic and learned from our mistakes.

We are committed to working with the HSE, in particular, to ensure that health service reform takes sufficient account of language needs in the design and roll-out of services. I look forward to engaging with the committee.