Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Ní bhfuair mé freagra ar an gceist. I regret the Taoiseach was unable to pick up what I said. The Ceann Comhairle has no problem using the headphones to access the interpreting service and it is quite straightforward. The translation department would have interpreted what I said into English. I must now say it in English as it was not clear enough.

I referred to Acts, not to correspondence or documentation that may have to be translated under the Act. I referred to section 7, the English version of which states: "As soon as may be after the enactment of any Act of the Oireachtas, the text thereof shall be printed and published in each of the official languages simultaneously". That section is to come into force in July and the Department of Finance has provided funding, which I acknowledge.

Will Tithe an Oireachtais be allowed to carry out work that it is capable of doing, given that it has the Bill from the earliest point of publication and the translation work is almost finished by the time the Bill is passed? An effort is being made to take that work from Tithe an Oireachtais and outsource it. This would be grossly inefficient as well as underusing the resources at our disposal in Tithe an Oireachtais. I appreciate outside companies may need to do work on documentation and end-of-year publications. In respect of legislation, can the Taoiseach state he will support Tithe an Oireachtais carrying out this work, as opposed to outsourcing it, given the availability of expertise and experience in the Houses, the staff of which have worked with Bills from publication? It is on this issue I sought the opinion of the Taoiseach.

See this speech in context