Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Allowing that the average period a person spends in the public service is 30 years, the replacement percentage would be approximately 3% if every person leaving was to be replaced, which is not the case at present, and 6% of 3% is 0.18%, but we must allow for the fact that some of the people leaving will be functional bilinguals. Therefore, the incremental increase will be very small. Where are the mathematics wrong in that? The Minister would have to say it was probably wrong, because it is way too generous compared to the increase we are going to get.

Has the Minister any idea of the number of functional bilinguals up to the standard he mentioned, which is the only correct standard - that is, people who do their business, as I do, in Irish or English, according to the customer's needs, with equal facility? Will the Minister agree that the number is approximately 2% and in some Departments it is less? Therefore, will he not agree that his policy would leave less than 3% capable of fulfilling these positions in the foreseeable future? What proportion of the public service should be sufficiently competent in Irish to provide a wide range of front-line services to the public in that language? What percentage does the Minister think reasonable?

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