Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Leanfaimid ar aghaidh anois go dtí 6 p.m., más gá, agus tá súil agam nach mbeidh gá. Fearaim fáilte roimh na comhaltaí ón gcomhchoiste, roimh aon chomhalta eile atá ag freastal ar an gcruinniú seo ar líne nach bhfuil sa seomra faoi láthair, roimh an lucht féachana agus, go háirithe, roimh na finnéithe atá os ár gcomhair. Tá leithscéal faighte agam ón Teachta Daly nach féidir leis a bheith linn inniu. Fearaim fáilte go sonrach roimh na finnéithe atá linn mar ionadaithe thar ceann Fheidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte, FSS: Paul Reid, príomhoifigeach feidhmiúcháin; an Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald, ceannasaí náisiúnta sláinte poiblí agus cuimsiú sóisialta; Tony Canavan, príomhfheidhmeannach grúpa, an Grúpa Ollscoile um Chúram Sláinte Saolta; agus Cuimín Mac Aodha Bhuí, ceannasaí na seirbhíse Gaeilge. Chomh maith leo siúd inniu tá Robert Watt, Ard-Rúnaí; Muiris O'Connor, rúnaí cúnta; agus Jade Pepper, oifigeach Gaeilge i láthair mar ionadaithe thar ceann na Roinne Sláinte. Ar líne, tá Mark Brennock, stiúrthóir náisiúnta cumarsáide de chuid FSS linn chomh maith céanna. Gabhaim mo bhuíochas leo go léir arís as a bheith anseo.

Ba mhaith liom a chur ar an taifead freisin go bhfuil na finnéithe go léir eile, seachas Mark Brennock, ag freastal ar an gcruinniú ó sheomra coiste 4 laistigh de phurláin Thithe an Oireachtais. Tá comhaltaí an chomhchoiste seo a leanas ar líne linn go fóill: na Teachtaí Ó Muimhneacháin agus Calleary, agus an Seanadóir Kyne. Aithneoimid na daoine eile nuair a thiocfaidh siad isteach ar líne. Táimid ag déanamh breathnú ar an dá ábhar seo a leanas ar an gcruinniú seo: na físeáin nua atá curtha ar fáil ag FSS chun mná torracha a spreagadh chun an vacsaín i gcomhair an coróinvíreas a fháil, físeáin atá ar fáil in a lán teangacha eile ach nach bhfuil ar fáil as Gaeilge, príomhtheanga na hÉireann; agus na teangacha éagsúla ina sholáthraíonn nó ina bhfógraíonn FSS agus an Roinn Sláinte a gcuid seirbhísí don phobal.

Sula dtosóimid an cruinniú i gceart, tá dualgas orm na rialacha agus na treoracha seo a leanas a leagan faoin bhráid na ndaoine atá ag freastal ar an gcruinniú seo: meabhraím do chomhaltaí, d’fhinnéithe agus do bhaill foirne a chinntiú go bhfuil a ngutháin shoghluaiste múchta le linn an chruinnithe mar gur féidir leis na gléasanna seo cur as do chórais chraolacháin, eagarthóireachta agus fuaime Thithe an Oireachtais. Tá rogha ag comhaltaí freastal ar an gcruinniú go fisiciúil i seomra an choiste nó go fíorúil ar Microsoft Teams, ar an gcoinníoll i gcás cruinnithe poiblí gur óna n-oifigí i dTithe an Oireachtais a dhéanfar seo. Is riachtanas bunreachtúil é sin. Le linn do chomhaltaí a bheith ag freastal óna n-oifigí, ba chóir dóibh an físeán a bheith ar siúl an t-am go léir agus a bheith le feiceáil ar an scáileán. Baineann an coinníoll seo leis na finnéithe atá ag freastal go fíorúil chomh maith. Ba chóir dóibh siúd atá ag freastal ar an gcruinniú go fíorúil a chinntiú go bhfuil a micreafóin múchta acu nuair nach bhfuil siad ag caint ar an gcomhchoiste agus cloí leis sin.

Cuirim ar aird na bhfinnéithe inniu go bhfuil siad, de bhua Bhunreacht na hÉireann agus reachtaíochta araon, faoi chosaint ag lánphribhléid maidir leis an bhfianaise a thugann siad don chomhchoiste chomh fada agus atá siad lonnaithe laistigh de phurláin Thithe an Oireachtais agus an fhianaise sin á tabhairt acu. Is fíric é nach féidir le finnéithe brath ar an gcosaint sin agus fianaise á tabhairt acu lasmuigh de phurláin Thithe an Oireachtais. Molaim d’fhinnéithe, go mór mór dóibh siúd atá ag freastal ar an gcruinniú lasmuigh de phurláin Thithe an Oireachtais, a bheith cúramach agus fianaise á tabhairt acu. Má ordaíonn an comhchoiste dóibh éirí as fianaise a thabhairt i leith ní áirithe, beidh orthu a dhéanamh amhlaidh láithreach. Ordaítear dóibh gan aon fhianaise a thabhairt nach fianaise í a bhaineann leis na hábhair nó leis na himeachtaí atá á bplé ag an gcomhchoiste. Ba chóir dóibh a bheith ar an eolas go ndéanfar na ráitis tosaigh a chuirtear faoi bhráid an choiste a fhoilsiú ar shuíomh gréasáin an chomhchoiste tar éis an chruinnithe seo.

Fiafraítear d’fhinnéithe agus do chomhaltaí araon cleachtadh parlaiminte a urramú nár chóir, más féidir, duine nó eintiteas a cháineadh ná líomhaintí a dhéanamh ina n-aghaidh ná tuairimí a thabhairt maidir leo ina ainm, ina hainm nó ina n-ainmneacha, nó ar shlí a bhféadfaí iad a aithint. Chomh maith leis sin, fiafraítear díobh gan aon ní a rá a d’fhéadfaí breathnú air mar ábhar díobhálach do dhea-chlú aon duine nó eintiteas. Mar sin, dá bhféadfadh a ráitis a bheith clúmhillteach do dhuine nó eintiteas aitheanta, ordófar do na finnéithe éirí as na ráitis sin láithreach. Tá sé ríthábhachtach go ngéillfidh finnéithe leis an ordú sin chomh láithreach is a eisítear é.

Déanfaimid breathnú anois ar ábhair an chruinnithe inniu. Aithním go bhfuil an Seanadóir Ward tagtha isteach ar líne ansin. Iarraim ar phríomhoifigeach feidhmiúcháin de chuid FSS labhairt os comhair an chruinnithe.

Mr. Paul Reid:

Good afternoon, Chairperson and members. My apologies in advance as I will relay my opening statement in English because my Irish is not strong enough. I am joined today by my colleagues: Tony Canavan, CEO, Saolta Hospital Group; Cuimín Mac Aodha Bhuí, head of the Irish-language service in the HSE; Mark Brennock, national director of communications; and Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald, specialist in public health, HSE national social inclusion office.

The HSE attended this committee in November 2021 and gave an update on our work to provide information and services in Irish and our implementation of our Irish-language strategy. The HSE has some ground to make up in this area, as the committee is aware. I regret the opportunities missed to adopt and implement a scheme under the previous Act. We are renewing our commitment to work to meet our duties under the updated legislation from now on. We want to use the good work done during the Covid-19 period as a platform for that improved service to Irish speakers.

In December, the committee asked that I attend to discuss videos produced by the HSE in 12 languages of migrant communities to encourage uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine. The committee also asked to discuss generally the languages in which the HSE provides information to the public. Let me first address the context of the videos for our migrant communities. In the course of the pandemic, very clear at-risk groups emerged along with evidence of groups less likely to take up the vaccines.

We noted especially low vaccine uptake rates of 26% for nationals of EU 14-27 countries working in sector A, which includes agriculture, forestry and fishing.

In response, the HSE’s social inclusion team worked on measures to ensure that Covid-19 advice and vaccine promotion messages were adapted for those communities representing lower uptake rate or higher levels of ICU admissions. These programmes included creating videos in the languages spoken by at-risk communities who are unlikely to be served by traditional channels or information in English or Irish.

For this particular purpose, neither English- nor Irish-language versions of these videos were required. There is an English-language version on the website to act as a reference, but this was not promoted or used as part of the campaign. We are very proud of our partnership with Translate Ireland, which has worked with us to reach people that are not well served by our traditional communications campaigns.

Let me address the provision of services and information in the Irish language, focusing on our Covid-19 communications over the last two years. Our mainstream communications campaign during the pandemic used a wide range of mass media channels to reach the public. Both the English and Irish languages were included in our daily news and media interviews with HSE leaders; social media messages from the HSE; HSE Live, our Covid-19 phone information service; hse.ie, the main source of advice and information; advertising campaigns on TV, radio, newspapers, posters and cinemas; Google search advertising and digital advertising on websites and HSE booklets delivered to all households.

The Saolta hospital group has also carried out extensive Irish-language communications during Covid-19, including social media and news media communications and a dedicated section on its website, along with information sheets and walk-through videos for vaccination centres in Gaeltacht areas.

Members will already be aware that many of the above channels have seen a much greater proportion of Irish-language messaging, since the pandemic began, than our previous norms. We have seen enhanced levels of Irish-language activity on social media and our Covid-19 television and radio adverts were produced in both languages and aired on television on TG4.

The HSE website, hse.ie, has been the main source of reliable information for the public and with the support of the HSE Irish-language service, 108 pages of Covid content are provided in Irish. HSE Live, our phone support service, has Irish-speaking operatives to allow registration for the Covid-19 vaccine through Irish.

Substantial HSE information booklets on Covid-19 were produced bilingually and delivered to all households in Ireland in 2020 and again in 2021. Our Covid-19 vaccine information booklets have been produced in English and in Irish from the outset of the programme, with updates to the text and translations being carried out each week since December 2020. These booklets are all available on the HSE website and printed copies are also made available.

We have taken many opportunities to provide an unprecedented level of advertising and patient information through Irish during the pandemic and will extend this to other topics in line with the new legislation. We also acknowledge, as discussed in our November attendance here, that some opportunities to advance our vision for the Irish language as detailed in our strategy have been missed during this period.

We have addressed the availability of our online applications connected to Covid-19, such as the vaccination portal and the systems used to book antigen tests, and to book a vaccine or Covid-19 test in Irish. I am happy to say that all these systems are now available through Irish on hse.ie.

Our plans to improve and extend our public information in Irish include providing a high-quality user experience and up-to-date content on the HSE’s website. We have begun the process of developing a semi-automated process with a high-quality translation service to ensure accuracy. The initial scope of this project is to enable the HSE website to be multilingual and to provide Covid-19 and Covid-19 vaccination information on hse.iein Irish in the first place. We aim to have this in place by the end of April.

Looking forward, we will ensure we meet the upcoming legislative requirements placed upon us by the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021. This will include appointing a new senior manager to lead the process. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has told us it will be in touch with us with regard to the commencement of the new legislation and will run information sessions for public bodies. We look forward to participating fully and to further improving the services we provide in Irish.

Mr. Robert Watt:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach for the invitation. I will also make my statement in English.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Gabhaim mo leithscéal. An bhfuil an ráiteas seo ar fáil i nGaeilge freisin?

Ms Jade Pepper:

Beidh sé ar fáil níos déanaí.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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An bhfuil sé ar fáil anois i nGaeilge don choiste lán-Ghaeilge?

Ms Jade Pepper:

Níl sé ar fáil faoi láthair.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Cén fáth?

Ms Jade Pepper:

Cheap mé ar dtús go mbeadh príomhaíocht ag an leagan Béarla ós rud é go bhfuil sé á léamh as Béarla ar dtús, ach beidh an leagan Gaeilge ar fáil.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Ní féidir glacadh leis sin. Ba chóir go mbeadh an dá ráiteas os ár gcomhair. Tá sé dona go leor go bhfuil an rud go léir as Béarla agus anois, níl an ráiteas Gaeilge ar fáil.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Níl ach ráiteas amháin os mo chomhair. Tá ráiteas Paul Reid as Gaeilge agam.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Tá sé léite agam.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá sé sin scaipthe.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Tá a fhios agam ach cá bhfuil an leagan Gaeilge ón Roinn? Níl ach ceann amháin ón Roinn agus tá sé trí Bhéarla. Tá sé admhaithe go mbeidh sé ag teacht.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Ní bhfuaireamar aon leagan go dtí 3 p.m. agus níl ach an leagan Béarla tagtha.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Ní féidir glacadh leis nach bhfuil ráiteas i nGaeilge don choiste Gaeilge. Is masla é.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá súil agam go ndéanfaidh an Roinn nóta de sin.

Mr. Muiris O'Connor:

Tá sé ag teacht. Tá brón orm go bhfuil sé déanach.

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.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Is é sin an dá ráiteas thosaigh. An bhfuil ceisteanna ag na Teachtaí? Cé atá ag iarraidh tús a chur leis? An bhfuil an Teachta McHugh ag tosú inniu?

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá lámh an Teachta Moynihan in airde.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Níl ach ceist amháin agam.

Gabhaim buíochas leis na finnéithe as an gcur i láthair agus an t-eolas a bhí ann. Tuigim go raibh na húdaráis dírithe ar ghrúpaí faoi leith nach raibh an t-éileamh céanna ar an vacsaín uathu. B'fhéidir go raibh siad buartha mar gheall ar an vacsaín agus nach raibh an t-éileamh ann dá bharr. Bhí na húdaráis ag díriú isteach ar na grúpaí sin ach go háirithe. Cad iad na grúpaí gur dhírigh FSS isteach orthu? An bhféadfaí iad a aithint dúinn?

Mr. Paul Reid:

I will make a couple of quick remarks and then ask Dr. Fitzgerald to provide an update. I will mention again where our focus was. We had very good information based on geography and population across the country but, as we reached high levels of vaccine uptake in the primary programme, we became concerned about vulnerable groups and non-Irish groups in particular. Our approach involved a number of languages, which my colleague will outline. While, as I said in my opening statement, we targeted particular languages, I acknowledge that we recorded a version in English, which was put up on our site. In hindsight, we should have recorded an Irish version as well. However, as Dr. Fitzgerald will outline, the target population was very clear because of the vulnerabilities and exposure among those groups. We did make progress through that communications campaign. I will ask Dr. Fitzgerald to list the specific groups.

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. In our national office for social inclusion, our remit includes those who are socially marginalised or excluded from mainstream society. This includes groups such as Travellers, Roma, people in direct provision, homeless people, people affected by addiction and irregular migrants. In the course of our work during the Covid pandemic, we saw how much Covid outbreaks were affecting those who are most excluded and who are, as I used to say, not necessarily watching the news on RTÉ at night or reading the mainstream media. When the roll-out of the vaccination campaign started, we were acutely aware that we needed to think outside the box. I wrote a paper with my colleagues in mid-2021 highlighting how we needed to reach out to vulnerable migrants. Even though we knew there was a focus on giving people access to vaccination based on medical vulnerability in line with the advice of the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, we knew that not everyone in society could get access easily and that a pathway needed to be opened for several of these groups. Access issues could relate to language, physical distance, the lack of a car, distrust in society or distrust in the vaccination message. Through our research and ongoing work, we could see that the level of uptake of vaccination among some communities in Ireland, particularly multi-ethnic communities, was very low even as their cohorts were offered vaccination. That was the main driver of the production of these videos.

The first indication that we needed to do something different was that pregnant women were very hesitant to take up vaccination. Our colleagues on the ground, and GPs in particular, who were already working with Translate Ireland, an organisation that started up after the beginning of the Covid pandemic, suggested that we produce video material in the languages of certain communities, especially the languages of eastern Europeans, Brazilians and people coming from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, to be delivered by healthcare workers from their own countries so that they could hear the voices of their own communities. We felt that written material did not suit these communities and that they had to be given something they could see and hear in a video or multimedia format, that is, something that could be shared on WhatsApp. They were our main motivations.

The languages we initially picked were Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Romanian and Urdu. We then moved on to Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian, Georgian, Somali, Czech and Slovak. Ukrainian was added latterly to meet the needs of the Ukrainian community that has just arrived. We picked the top 11 languages based on the numbers of people we had in the community and the numbers of people in direct provision, another group that was greatly affected by the Covid pandemic. We picked a mixture. Obviously, not all ethnic minorities are excluded socially but many work in low-paid industries. We picked the languages based on the communities, their context and the hesitancy and lack of access that we could see from our statistics. English was picked as an audit tool to make sure we knew that what we were translating was correct. That is why we did not look at doing one for the Irish-speaking community at that point.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Tuigim go raibh na figiúirí ag rá nach raibh éileamh ó ghrúpaí ar leith. Luaigh an Dr. Fitzgerald cuid de na grúpaí sin, mná a bhí ag iompar clainne ina measc. Díreoimid isteach air sin. An ndearna FSS video don ghrúpa sin ach go háirithe? Tuigim ó na figiúirí go raibh easpa éilimh i measc ban a bhí ag iompar clainne. Más rud é go ndearna, cén teanga ina ndearnadh é sin? Cén saghas figiúirí a bhí ann i gcomhair an ghrúpa sin i gcomparáid leis na grúpaí eile, an pobal Polannach nó an pobal Rúiseach mar shampla?

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

I do not have those figures to hand. We knew that there was a hesitancy among pregnant women in the wider community. There were some difficult times in getting the message across. However, with regard to the migrant groups, clinicians expressed a view that there was a need to make it easy-----

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Táimid ag díriú ar ghrúpaí nach raibh éileamh uathu ar an vacsaín. Tuigim ó na finnéithe go raibh FSS dírithe ach go háirithe ar ghrúpaí nár theastaigh uathu an vacsaín a ghlacadh. Ba cheann de na grúpaí sin na mná a bhí ag iompar clainne. Shamhlóinn go mbeadh an céatadán céanna Gaeilgeoirí i measc ban atá ag iompar clainne agus atá ann i measc an phobail i gcoitinne. Mar sin, dá mba rud go raibh FSS ag díriú ar dhaoine nach raibh éileamh uathu, shamhlóinn go mbeadh ábhair curtha ar fáil sna teangacha atá oiriúnach dóibh. An ndearna FSS aon video i gcomhair an phobail a bhí ag iompar clainne? An ndearnadh é sin as Gaolainn nó as Béarla?

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

We made a range of videos for pregnant women, antenatal women, women who were breastfeeding and people with the top ten primary health conditions.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Cén teanga ina raibh siad?

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

We did them in eight languages, focusing on those people coming into the country and especially on those in direct provision and those for whom-----

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Cad faoi mhná Éireannacha a bhí ag iompar clainne agus mná eachtrannacha a bhfuil Gaolainn acu, mar níl sé teoranta go dtí Éireannaigh? Feicimid inár scoileanna go bhfuil Gaolainn ag daoine ó gach cearn den domhan. Rinne FSS video i gcomhair ban a bhí ag iompar clainne in ocht dteanga éagsúla ach ní dhearna sí ceann as Gaolainn. An é sin atá á rá?

An bhféadfaí soiléiriú a thabhairt air sin?

Mr. Paul Reid:

Our primary route with regard to communicating with pregnant women has generally been clinical pathways through their consultant at the hospital they would have been attending. I can clarify, through Mr. Brennock, if we made specific videos for pregnant women. However, our primary route for pregnant women, which worked through the process was at their appointments and generally as they were coming through their clinical pathways. Mr. Canavan might want to confirm this. I am not certain we made dedicated videos in English or any other language for pregnant women but I ask Mr. Brennock, our communications manager, to clarify that.

Mr. Mark Brennock:

I do not believe we did. My apologies, as I have not understood all of the exchange, but as Dr. Fitzgerald said, the particular groups in whose languages the videos were made were selected arising from statistics from the Central Statistics Office and elsewhere and were related to people who were not accessing communication as normal via their clinicians or mainstream sources. There was not seen to be a need to make videos of this type in English or Irish. Dr. Fitzgerald has explained the reason one video was made in English and put on the website. However, it was not promoted or used as part of a campaign to pregnant English-speaking women.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Tuigim go raibh na físeáin déanta chun díriú ar ghrúpaí nach raibh éileamh acu ar an vacsaín.

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

We had concerns when hospital admissions and admissions to intensive care were higher and were notable among those who were not vaccinated and in pregnancy. We worked mostly with doctors from the migrant communities, in this instance, to produce short videos that could explain to the communities the advantages and the importance of the vaccination in case they did not pick it up from mainstream media.

Out of that initiative, we developed a series of videos, including on how to get a GP, how to apply for a medical card and what happens when one is pregnant. We did these in other languages in order that people from those communities who were not able to access mainstream health services could do so. We agreed the wording with the national immunisation office and HSE communications. It was aligned with the general communication for most of the population but it was an extra measure for people who did not pick up on the excellent messages that were out on radio, television and the media.

Mr. Tony Canavan:

I will confirm the arrangement for communication with women during pregnancy. During Covid, we were particularly trying to target vaccination through their clinicians. Information was provided to consultant obstetricians and the antenatal staff who were meeting regularly with patients on a regular basis in order that they would use those meetings as an opportunity to promote the uptake of the vaccine.

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

We provided the video translations for clinicians to use. The translation was delivered by a Russian or French doctor and then we advertised to our GP colleagues through the Irish College of General Practitioners and told them to look at it. The main driver for the initiative, called "my health, my language", came from GPs and advocates in the community who wanted better messaging for migrant communities. GPs and clinicians were encouraged to go to this video and show it and share it on WhatsApp. They were told that this was what they should tell their patients. That was the freagra.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Is é an rud a thuigim ná go raibh grúpa faoi leith a raibh éileamh íseal aige ar an vacsaín agus go raibh slite difriúla a raibh na finnéithe ag teagmháil le daoine, cuid acu a raibh teangacha difriúla acu.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá cúpla ceist agam agus tá deis ag daoine eile teacht isteach. Luaigh na finnéithe na físeáin. Glacaim leis go raibh póstaeir agus a leithéid ar fáil á gcur an teachtaireacht seo trasna chomh maith i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge nó á gcur ábhar eile trasna. An raibh na póstaeir nó na bileoga ar fáil i ngach uile ionaid nó áite dochtúra timpeall na tíre as Béarla agus as Gaeilge?

Mr. Paul Reid:

Any publication we set out throughout Covid was in both Irish and English and distributed nationally to the regional health areas and communities and acute services. I will labour the point a small bit. With regard to the focus of the videos, in particular, we were acting on clinical feedback and advice we were getting about vulnerable groups, especially those in ICU. I do not want to go into too much detail on it but there was strong feedback from intensivists and consultants in ICU about migrant communities and their particular exposure. It was a very driven and focused initiative to reduce risk and that is where the risk was.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Ó thaobh na fógraíochta i gcoitinne sa phaindéim, ghlac Paul Reid leis go raibh fadhbanna ó thaobh an cur chuige seo. Maidir leis na figiúirí atá agam ó mhí Mhárta go dtí Meán Fómhair 2020 faoi chaiteachas an FSS ar fhógraíocht i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge ar theilifís, raidió, na meáin shóisialta agus na nuachtáin, tá difríocht shuntasach ann. Ó thaobh fógraí raidió de, caitheadh breis agus €1 milliún sa tréimhse sin ar fhógraí raidió. As sin, ní raibh ach €5,600 caite ar fhógraí raidió as Gaeilge. Ar an teilifís, bhí €1.4 milliún caite ar fhógraíocht i gcoitinne agus ní raibh ach €40,000 nó mar sin caite ar fhógraí as Gaeilge. Ar na meáin shóisialta, caitheadh €135,000 ar fhógraí as Béarla agus sa tréimhse sin, de réir na bhfigiúirí a dtugadh dúinn, níor caitheadh pingin ar fhógraí as Gaeilge. Níor cuireadh fógraí as Gaeilge sna nuachtáin de réir na bhfigiúirí a dtugadh dúinn. Ó thaobh Twitter de, ní raibh ach breis agus 4% de na postálacha a rinne FSS as Gaeilge. Níl a fhios agam ar tháinig feabhas air sin sa chéad tréimhse eile. Níl a fhios agam an bhfuil aitheantas ann anois ar an dualgas breise atá agus a bheidh ar FSS amach anseo toisc an reachtaíocht nua a ritheadh le déanaí, Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2021, faoin gcaiteachas ar fhógraí as Gaeilge agus an líon ar gá dóibh a shroicheadh. Níl na figiúirí ná a leithéid agam ó thaobh na Roinne féin. Níl a fhios agam an raibh an caiteachas ar an méid céanna. Má tá na figiúirí ag Jade Pepper, an féidir léi iad a roinnt linn?

Ms Jade Pepper:

Níl an caiteachas deighilte idir Ghaeilge agus Bhéarla. Is féidir linn é sin a leanúint agus teacht ar ais chuig an gCathaoirleach maidir leis sin. Tá na figiúirí maidir le caiteachas ar acmhainní Gaeilge agus ar aistriúcháin anseo, más mian leis an gcoiste.

Tá deighilt mhór idir 2020 agus 2021 agus is féidir a rá, toisc go raibh i bhfad níos mó ábhar le heisiúint i rith na bliana seo caite, gurbh é sin an chúis a bhí leis an gcaiteachas. Ag deireadh 2021, tháinig an méid sin chuig €105,502.19. Is é sin an figiúr iomlán a caitheadh ar an nGaeilge anuraidh i dtaobh acmhainní fógraíochta, aistriúcháin agus oiliúna sa teanga fosta. Más rud é go bhfuil briseadh síos níos sonraí ag teastáil, is féidir liom na figiúirí sin a lorg ach is é sin an caiteachas ina iomlán ar an nGaeilge in 2021.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Más féidir in aon chor é sin a chur ar aghaidh chugainn-----

Ms Jade Pepper:

Is féidir cinnte.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----ionas gur féidir linn é a chur a chur i gcomparáid leis an bhfeidhmeannacht------

Ms Jade Pepper:

Más féidir liom cur leis sin, le toil an Chathaoirligh, in 2020, bhí iomlán de €33,961.48 i gceist. Is méadú mór é sin idir é sin agus €105,000. Is féidir a rá toisc na paindéime go raibh tuilleadh ábhar á n-eisiúint i measc na sluaite ábhar eile ach fós is méadú suntasach mór é sin i gcomparáid le 2020.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an bhfinné. Bhí an cheist sin dírithe ar na finnéithe eile freisin. Tá an cheist seo faoin gcaiteachas a tháinig feabhas air, idir na figiúirí a léigh mé amach ó Mhárta agus Mheán Fómhair 2020, agus le linn na paindéime ina dhiaidh sin, suas go dtí anois. An bhfuil fás tar éis teacht ar an méid airgid atá á chaitheamh ó thaobh fógraíochta as Gaeilge de agus an bhfuil níos mó ann ná mar a bhí? Bhí sé tubaisteach ag tús na tréimhse sin. Bhí gach duine faoi bhrú ach, fós féin, tá pobal ann le Gaeilge, cibé gurbh í an chéad teanga atá acu nó go bhfuil siad á foghlaim, agus tá sé de cheart acu fógraí a fheiceáil ina dteanga féin, go háirithe nuair atá na húdaráis sláinte ag brú nó ag impí ar pháistí nó ar chlanna nithe a dhéanamh. Mura bhfeiceann siad go bhfuil sé sin ag teacht ón Stát sa teanga is dual dóibh, uaireanta cuidíonn sé sin chun iad a scaradh amach ón gcóras Stáit.

Mr. Paul Reid:

If I understand the Cathaoirleach correctly, the figures that he has are from March to September 2020. We can provide the updated figures through to 2021 but, like my colleagues in the Department, I would stress that we had a very seriously enhanced investment in communications in both languages throughout 2021 where we can demonstrate a very significant increase in spending. We can provide those overall figures to the committee.

I want to acknowledge that we got many learnings in the area about Covid-19 but particularly in respect of our communications throughout 2020. We have strengthened and upped our game in 2021.

I want to return to the earlier part of the Cathaoirleach’s question to ourselves on respecting our obligations under the Act. We have obviously not done ourselves justice throughout and have not done enough in meeting our obligations on this issue and, certainly, in the context of the new Act, with Cuimín Mac Aodha Bhuí and all the rest of the team, I want us to embrace it in a better way. I have seen where it works well and I came from a role in Fingal County Council where we put a particular plan in place and it very much galvanised the workforce who embraced it. It is something I am very anxious, through our communications director, Mr. Brennock, to embrace, not just in order to meet our obligations, but to try also to get people active and encouraged in the language, including myself obviously.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an bhfinné. Tá ceisteanna eile agam mar gheall ar an dara cuid den ábhar a bhí á dhéanamh againn inniu agus is é sin na teangacha ina láithríonn FSS agus an Roinn a gcuid seirbhísí don phobal. Tá a fhios agam go raibh a lán stró ar dhaoine faoin todhchaí agus go bhfuil aitheantas ann anois go mba chóir go mbeadh seirbhísí ar fáil ar gach uile leibhéal do Ghaeilgeoirí agus, go háirithe, do pháistí le Gaeilge lena leithéidí de sheirbhísí mar theiripe teanga.

Fuair mé litir ó bhean inniu a bhí ag iarraidh an cárta leighis a bhí aici a fháil as Gaeilge. Chuir sí iarratas isteach i mí na Samhna anuraidh agus chuir sí an t-eolas isteach trí huaire as Gaeilge agus níl cárta leighis nua fós eisithe chuici. Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil fadhbanna ann ach nuair a chloistear rudaí mar sin, cuireann sé sin stró ar dhaoine agus casann siad ar an mBéarla. Ní cóir go mbeadh ar aon saoránach casadh ar theanga den dá theanga oifigiúla nach bhfuil siad sásta léi agus, go háirithe, más í an teanga náisiúnta, an Ghaeilge. Ba chóir go mbeadh an córas in ann déileáil leo as Gaeilge chomh tapa agus is féidir nó níos tapúla i gcás na Gaeilge toisc gurb í an teanga náisiúnta. Cad é an t-athrú nó an bealach atá ag an dá dhream atá os comhair an chomhchoiste inniu chun tabhairt faoi na seirbhísí seo agus a dhéanamh cinnte de go bhfuil siad ar fáil as sa bhliain atá romhainn agus amach anseo?

Mr. Paul Reid:

I can respond, first, to that question. I am disappointed to hear about the woman with the medical card, in particular, because we have in our Primary Care Reimbursement Service, PCRS, centre in Finglas in north Dublin dedicated people who support the processing of medical cards in Irish so I am quite happy to take that case up separately for the Cathaoirleach. We have some dedicated focus there to support those applications as Gaeilge.

Specifically on what we are going to do and as I mentioned in my opening statement, from our perspective we are working closely with the Department. First, we will appoint someone at a senior level to support the services in respect of raising our game and our communications in respect of the Irish language. We also want to strengthen the interface with an Coimisinéir Teanga in getting good advice from that office about who how we can improve this. We want to put in supports for both the community and acute services as they communicate outwards and do so directly themselves in many communications. We plan to put certain training in place at all stages to promote the Irish language where people will be encouraged to take up Irish-language courses.

The provision of the Irish language on our website and in all of our communications is something that we are going to strengthen further. As I said my opening statement, we now have 108 pages but we want to ensure that we have an equivalence also.

Those are some of the actions, Cathaoirleach, that we are setting out to do and if it is okay I will ask my colleague, Mark Brennock, to add to this on some of the actions that we plan to take, unless the Department wishes to contribute separately before him.

Mr. Robert Watt:

If I may come in, please, just before Mr. Brennock'’s contribution, just to add to what Mr. Reid has said in respect of the Department itself. The services that the Department provides are modest in the context of the services that the HSE provides to citizens. As I set out in my opening statement, we are making efforts now to improve our compliance and our obligations, as mentioned by the Cathaoirleach, under the new Act. We have increased awareness among staff and provide workshops for colleagues so that they are aware of their obligations. We are providing more supports to colleagues who want to improve their language skills, to learn the language and to become more proficient. We have also increased the number of fluent speakers in the Department who are able to converse and correspond in Irish. We have a very clear commitment now that people who want to correspond or speak to colleagues in Irish, that that is available to them. From all of the feedback that I am hearing, that is going reasonably well. Obviously, the scale of the challenges that we face as a Department are easier to manage than those which Mr. Reid would face in providing the whole variety of health services through Irish. It is easier in the Department and we are making strides, as are other Government Departments. As I hear from other colleagues, Departments are embracing this legislation and their obligations and are doing their best.

It is very much through that culture that people will be aware and be encouraged to engage in Irish, to improve their skills and to feel that they are being supported by the Department in doing that.

Mr. Mark Brennock:

I thank the Chairman. I will mention a number of points on changes that we have made and on things that we are proposing to do. This is not to try to say that we are doing a terrific job but it is in line with what the chief executive has said, which is that we are committed to fulfilling our obligations and to serving Irish-speaking communities considerably better than we have done in the past.

The last time we met, in November, a number of members expressed disappointment and concern at the fact the SwiftQueue system for booking Covid-19 vaccinations was available in English only. Since 1 February, it has been available in Irish and in English. We are currently putting in place fairly extensive infrastructure to allow our website to be bilingual. We are focusing in the first instance on providing the information on Covid-19 and the vaccine on hse.iein Irish. That work is under way and will be complete by May 2022.

We will then progress to broader translation of our public website. There are many tens of thousands of pages on our website, so we are not aiming to have the full website translated into Irish, but we are putting in place a project towards broader translation of the website.

More broadly, as the chief executive has said, the Department of the Gaeltacht has written to us. We are going to engage with it on the new legislation and attend the workshops and seminars it is going to hold about implementing the language standards to make sure we do it well over a period of time not just to remain in line with legislation, although of course we will be in line with legislation, but to serve the patients and service users who speak Irish both in Irish-speaking communities and elsewhere.

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

Yes. We were very concerned about the Roma communities. At the Deputy will know, they are very hidden. They are in many parts of Ireland. Many of them are in rural communities. With the best will in the world, we are still concerned about the low levels of vaccine uptake in the Roma community. It was one of the first of the migrant communities about which we were deeply concerned because of the high rates of death and admission to intensive care in the community, including among pregnant members. There is a high rate of chronic disease in that population and members are at high risk of complications arising from Covid. We found that in the first, second, third and fourth waves. That was one of the first languages we worked on and our concern for this community was one of our drivers or motivating factors in doing this because members of this community are generally not literate. Some are but quite a number are not literate in their own language, Romanian. We therefore felt it was better to have somebody speaking. That goes for some of the other communities that have come into Ireland from the refugee population as well. Many people in our refugee communities do not write in, for example, Arabic. That was very big driver of our first round of videos.

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

As the Deputy will know, in some cases we are running to stand still. This is a rapidly evolving situation. The HSE website is the first port of call. The address is www.hse.ie/ukraine. On that page, there are multiple resources in Ukrainian and Russian. We are also reaching out to the Ukrainian medical community and the Ukrainian community in general. Mr. Reid is overseeing a large HSE response. We have multiple work streams. Within social inclusion, we have social inclusion managers and workers at local level reaching out to those in the communities and in accommodation provided by the international protection accommodation services of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The challenge is that there are more than 120 new accommodation facilities for Ukrainians. They are in many rural parts of the country, including in some hotels that have never had experience of being a direct provision facility. We are working hard with our partners in Government and in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Mr. Reid is probably also working with local authorities and the Civil Defence. There are multiple ways to engage, including through NGOs. At primary care level, there is a significant initiative in place to support GPs. The HSE has rapidly developed an interpretation and translation service that will also be available on the ground.

Mr. Paul Reid:

We have a group, which I chair and which meets once a week, overseeing the complete response from the HSE. That includes all of the services Dr. Fitzgerald has outlined. We have appointed a national public health lead to interface with all of the services because there are obviously certain public health needs, which we have already identified. I do not want to be seen to be profiling but one of the immediate public health needs we have seen is the low uptake of immunisation and vaccination among people from many eastern European countries. I refer not only to Covid vaccination, but also to other immunisation programmes. That is one but there are other areas we have already identified. The route to market or how to address these issues is through the group of senior officials from across Departments, which also meets weekly. We take general direction from that group but, ultimately, our interface is through our services in the community and reaching populations, particularly the Ukrainian populations that have been placed in quite rural locations in these early stages. There is great demand on our services right now.

Mr. Muiris O'Connor:

Is féidir liom cur leis sin. Thar cheann an chórais sláinte, tá whole-of-government approach i leith na hÚcráine mórthimpeall na Ranna éagsúla. Tá eolas ar fáil ar an Idirlíon ar gov.ie/ukraine. Tá eolas ansin ar na tacaíochtaí agus seirbhísí, seirbhísí sláinte san áireamh, atá ar fáil. Tá interdepartmental approach á thógáil agus tá an córas sláinte ag díriú isteach mar chuid den interdepartmental response sin.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá Tony Canavan ag iarraidh teacht isteach sula-----

Mr. Muiris O'Connor:

De réir mar a thuigim, faigheann siad SIM card, fón póca agus PPSN. Ansin, bíonn an t-eolas roinnte agus coimeádtar i dteagmháil leo. Tá an management den rud ar fad live.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tabharfaidh mé deis do Tony Canavan teacht isteach. Tá muidne ag dul ar strae ón ábhar. B'fhéidir go mbeidh an Comhchoiste um Shláinte nó dream éigin eile ag cur as dom. B'fhéidir go mbeidh Tony Canavan in ann roinnt freagraí a thabhairt dúinn.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tuigim. Níl mé ag iarraidh srian----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá a fhios ag an Teachta-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá na rialacha faoi na Cathaoirligh ar eolas ag an Teachta. Tabharfaidh mé deis do Tony Canavan ach anois is féidir le Robert Watt dul ar aghaidh.

Mr. Robert Watt:

We can come back separately on the wider question.

I appreciate it is not exactly within the remit of this committee but we will come back to the Deputy on that.

Mr. Tony Canavan:

Níl mórán le rá agam. Táimid ag déanamh comhoibrithe i ngach contae leis na comhairlí contae agus ag obair leo chun seirbhís sláinte iomlán a chur ar fáil. Tá an scéal ag athrú gach lá. Tá sé ina early days, fós. Táimid ag comhoibriú leis na comhairlí contae chun breathnú ar an scéal gach lá agus céard ar cheart do na seirbhísí sláinte a chur ar fáil maidir le seirbhísí oiriúnacha do dhaoine i ngach contae. Tá an Dr. Fitzgerald á rá liom anois go bhfuil duine éigin ó na seirbhísí sláinte ag an aerfort nuair atá na daoine ag teacht isteach. Tá eolas ar fáil acu ó na seirbhísí sláinte ansin.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá brón orm cur as don Teachta, ach tá a fhios aige go mbaineann an choiste seo leis an nGaeilge agus le cúrsaí Gaeilge

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Fadhb ar bith.

Mr. Tony Canavan:

Nílimid ceangailte le chéile. Is smaoineamh maith é sin ach níl an ceangal sin againn, fós. Aithnímid na dualgais atá orainn faoin Acht agus na dualgais atá ag teacht ón Acht chomh maith.

Mr. Tony Canavan:

Is cinnte go bhfuilimid oscailte.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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An bhfuil sé i gceist an físeán a luaigh mé níos luaithe a aistriú go Gaeilge nó an bhfuil an phráinn a bhí i gceist leis é a chur amach ar dtús báire imithe ag an stad seo? An fiú é a chur ar fáil, mar a bhí ráite maidir leis an bhfíseán Béarla, mar áis ar líne?

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

In retrospect, we should have thought of that and we will do so from now on. We were driven by other motivations but we should and will be more inclusive.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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An gá an ceann atá ann a aistriú ag an stad seo?

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

Some of the videos, we should look at what we have done. We will complete an evaluation of Translate Ireland, the group that did this. We will have an official launch, which we deferred from April. It is coming up. We will bring this back to our working group. There is an openness to it because clinicians will provide the narrative. The budget for this is very low. We did not spend considerable money. It is modest in the extreme. We spent well under €100,000 on everything we have done in the past year. The model-----

Mr. Paul Reid:

The translation budget.

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

Yes. For the translation part, the model is-----

Mr. Paul Reid:

I wanted to clarify that.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Not a cheap video.

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald:

-----in a way, low tech or low cost but highly effective. We would be very happy to do it as Gaeilge as well and get the líofacht going in our own dochtúirí agus banaltraí to deliver the message.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Níl aon cheist ag aon duine eile. Is féidir linn wrap a dhéanamh ar an gcruinniú seo. Tá gach rud críochnaithe. Ba mhaith liom mo-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Tá an Teachta McHugh ag teacht isteach arís.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Aontaímid ar fad leis sin. Tá súil againn go bhfuilimid ag teacht tríd an chaos a bhí againn. Is chaos difriúil é atá againn anois. Tá dualgais agus freagrachtaí breise ar gach duine sa saol poiblí de thairbhe an méid atá ag tarlú san Úcráin. Táimid fós, na finnéithe ach go háirithe, ag déileáil le ceisteanna sláinte. Níor chuidigh an t-ionsaí a rinneadh in aghaidh an chórais ríomhaireachta le scéal na Gaeilge ná scéal na sláinte ach oiread. Rinne sé níos deacra iad.

Gabhaim mo bhuíochas agus buíochas an choiste as an gcur chuige ó thaobh na sláinte de. Tá súil agam go mbeimid ag gabháil buíochais leis na finnéithe as an gcur chuige ó thaobh na Gaeilge de amach anseo agus go n-éireoidh níos fearr linn. Tá dul chun cinn á dhéanamh agus déanta agus aithnímid é sin. Críochnóimid an cruinniú le buíochas a ghabháil le Robert Watt, Ard-Rúnaí na Roinne Sláinte agus le Muiris O'Connor agus Jade Pepper a bhí anseo leis. Gabhaim buíochas freisin le Paul Reid, príomhoifigeach feidhmeannach de chuid FSS, an Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald, Tony Canavan agus Cuimín Mac Aodha Bhuí.