Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As I stated in reply to Deputy Sargent, a number of sections in my Department have quite a number of dealings through Irish, but other sections do not. Sections with ongoing dealings through the Irish language have a number of people who can deal with telephone calls or callers to the Department. The Department does not receive many visitors due to the nature of its work, but it receives correspondence, e-mails and telephone calls.

Some of the smaller sections dealing with other issues may not have many people, but the policy is to try to ensure at least one person with ability in Irish per section. Some sections are quite small and may not always have such a person, but larger sections have a number of people who can deal with matters through Irish on a daily basis.

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