John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

On Monday, the Irish Examiner published figures which came from local authorities around the country on how much they were spending on translating their local development plans and their local area plans. Last year, Cork County Council spent €90,000 translating its development plan. Nobody requested the Irish copy. In my county, Waterford, €26,000 was spent and not one person requested a copy. Limerick County Council expects to spend more than €100,000 on the 21 local area plans in addition to the cost of the development plan. Kilkenny County Council's two local area plans will cost €7,707. No requests have been made for a copy there. It should be noted that the article stated there was a high level of interest in Galway for the copy that Galway County Council has. That said, it does not come close to excusing the kind of blatant waste that we are witnessing thanks to the provisions of the Official Languages Act.

I asked the officials in my own local authority, Dungarvan Town Council, how much they had spent. They were able to give me the figure for last year's draft development plan, which was approximately €5,000. I asked the official what he would use the money for. He did not miss a beat in saying that he would have used it for footpaths for disabled people and for renovating the playground. I also contacted the director of services who might be dealing with the matter in Waterford County Council. He confirmed the Irish Examiner figure of €26,000 and also said that not one person had come from the Gaeltacht in Ring to ask for a copy. He described the provisions as ridiculous. He went on to make a suggestion. Even though he believes that the provisions are appalling he said it would be better if the council were allowed to simply translate these items and put them on a website as opposed to printing. Approximately half the cost——

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