Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus cuirim fáilte roimh Bille um Choimisiún Thithe an Oireachtas (Leasú) 2012. Is léir go bhfuil Bille ciallmhar os ár gcomhair. Beidh seirbhís lárnach ar fáil agus ní bheidh easaontas nó amhras faoin gcaighdeán. Tá an ceart ar fad aige gur cóir go mbeadh foinse amháin ann ó thaobh chaighdeán na Gaeilge de. Cé go raibh sé aisteach tuigim na cúiseanna leis an aonad aistriúchán i Roinn an Aire Stáit. Is léir go bhfuil sé ciallmhar go mbeadh gach rud lárnaithe i Rannóg an Aistriúcháin faoi Choimisiún Thithe an Oireachtais.

As a member of the Commission, I welcome the Bill and this opportunity to contribute on it. It is important that our two languages be treated in the same way. This is in accordance with the Constitution and is the will of every party in the House.

I will delve into the history. It was only as late as 2008 that the former Government approved the translation of all statutory instruments into Irish. In June 2011, the current Government decided to review the official standard of Irish. This is welcome, as Irish is a living language and, like all languages, new terms are being introduced. Consider the history of Irish after the State's foundation and the work done to modernise it. At the time, there was a great deal of criticism to the effect that a certain aspect of the language was being lost, namely, spellings and how it was expressed. However, modernisation was necessary.

Also in June 2011, the Government identified the need to consolidate translation services within the Houses. It is important that there be consistency among translation services. There should be no diversity. The new unit will be responsible for translating primary and secondary legislation and for ensuring that the official standard of Irish is reviewed no less than once every seven years. The staff have already been transferred to the Houses' central translation unit to facilitate this change in anticipation of the Bill.

Cost savings will accrue, particularly in the short and medium terms. I note the annual cost of translating the output of statutory instruments made per annum is estimated at €325,000 and circa €3.3 million over a ten-year period. While there are savings to the Exchequer, there is an increased cost to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. The commission has made very successful efforts to reduce the cost of the Houses of the Oireachtas in recent years. The budget in 2009, for example, was €138 million while the budget for this year is €115,590,000. We will endeavour to continue to make savings. Is there a transfer of funding from the previous services to the Oireachtas or must the Oireachtas absorb that under its current budget?

The Bill contains a number of provisions in regard to the translation of legislation. It provides for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to translate statutory instruments by Ministers or by people other than Ministers at the request of Ministers to do so. Similarly, it provides that Ministers may make arrangements, if they so wish, for the translation of statutory instruments other than by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. The commission can arrange for people other than staff members to assist in the translation of statutory instruments as it considers appropriate. The Bill will allow the commission to charge fees for the translation of statutory instruments. Perhaps the Minister of State would outline the details of how that will transpire because it also relates to my previous point on costs to the commission.

This could mean we will be able to cater for the amount of legislation before the House at a given time. A serious amount of legislation is coming through currently and the model proposed in the Bill will improve the translation of statutory instruments on demand subject to availability of resources within the Department or other public bodies. I welcome the Bill as progressive and I commend the Minister of State on bringing it forward.

See this speech in context