Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I request some latitude in trying to expand on this matter, which is by no means straightforward. The Official Languages Act requires local authority draft development plans to be produced simultaneously in Irish and English since they are key consultation documents. The requirement to publish official documents in Irish is strictly limited to very specific documents and does not encompass all official documents as often suggested in the media. In a recent newspaper article - I believe the one to which the Deputy referred - in October a figure of €300,000 was mentioned. This figure appears to suggest an estimate of the total cost of translating local authority development plans. As there are 34 local authorities and each development plan covers a six-year period, on the figures provided the cost to individual local authorities would appear to less than €1,500 annually for each local authority.

I refer Members to the reply to parliamentary questions on 3 February 2009 in respect of the cost associated with implementation of the Act since its enactment in 2003. Of the 15 Departments, 11 replied and when the figures are totalled my Department has estimated that the average direct cost per year amounted to €600,000, which is €55,000 per Department. I believe no fair-minded person would consider either or both of these costs excessive or unreasonable.

Regarding the cost of implementation of the Act to my Department in 2009, it has been a long-standing policy of my Department to ensure that customers, who wish to conduct their business through a choice of Irish or English, are facilitated. Accordingly, expenditure on providing services through Irish and English arises from our existing commitments to our customers and is met from our normal administrative budget. The Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga is funded under my Department's Vote. This is a statutory independent office whose role and functions are provided for in Part 4 of the Official Languages Act. The office spent €831,000 in 2009.

We are encouraging the implementation of the Act in a sensible and pragmatic way and whenever compact disks or on-line publishing of reports can be used, that should be done. I am afraid sometimes in a small number of areas some public bodies seem to be using the supposed cost of translation as a way of long-fingering the publishing of reports, which is unfortunate. However, I am satisfied that in the vast majority of cases any money spent is being spent appropriately and wisely.

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