Dáil debates

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Priority Questions

Official Languages Act.

1:00 pm

Photo of Brian O'SheaBrian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will inform all of the bodies which come within the remit of the Official Languages Act 2003 that an electronic copy of the Irish version of the various documents which come within the remit of the Act is sufficient to meet the statutory obligation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23140/09]

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Shea is aware that since the enactment of the Official Languages Act 2003, I have made it clear that certain documents should be published on compact disc or on the Internet, rather than in hard copy, to the maximum extent possible. I refer to those documents, such as annual reports and strategy statements, which are required by section 10 of the 2003 Act to be published simultaneously in both official languages. They should be produced in a manner that is consistent with the over-riding requirement to meet the needs of all customers, including those who do not have access to the Internet or have genuine reasons for preferring a paper copy. I assure the Deputy that every organisation that comes within the scope of the 2003 Act is aware of this. An Coimisinéir Teanga advised all public bodies of the preferred approach in the guidebook on the Act that his office published and circulated to them in 2008. It is essential that both official languages are treated equally and the same quality of customer service is provided in both languages. It is not sufficient to publish an electronic copy only of one language version, for example, while giving the customer in the other language a choice of electronic or paper copy. It should be acknowledged that some documents, such as application forms that enable the general public to make applications or receive benefits, may require continued availability in hard copy format for the foreseeable future. It is important, in the interests of providing the customer with a quality service, that hard copies of such documents continue to be accessible in both official languages, ideally within the one cover.

Photo of Brian O'SheaBrian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I would like to give an example of my concerns in this regard. I was contacted in connection with the recently published report of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces. I am the Labour Party's spokesperson on such matters. The person who contacted me, who could not be said to be unfavourably disposed to the Irish language, told me they threw the Irish language version of the report in the dustbin. Much of the stuff that is being published is of interest to very few people. The manner in which that is being done is leading to antagonism towards the Irish language. The approach of the Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, to the revival of the Irish language is putting him at risk of being described as a "flat earth" Minister. He needs to examine what is happening. At a time when the only Irish language newspaper in the country is facing extinction, money is being wasted in this manner.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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That is the subject of the next question.

Photo of Brian O'SheaBrian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Go raibh maith agat. It is not good enough for the Minister to say he has given advice - he needs to take stronger action to make sure this sort of thing stops before it gets any worse.

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Any waste of money is wrong. If money is wasted on printing, it does not matter whether the material being printed is in Irish or in English. I have complained in this House on many occasions about the number of unsolicited reports, etc., that are sent to my office. Most of them are in English only. They go immediately into my waste paper basket because I know I will not get a chance to read them. There are too many of them. Like everyone who checks his or her post, I can remember a time when every county enterprise board sent its annual report to me. I do not get any of those any more. The debate we have had on this issue has helped enormously to dissuade bodies from sending this type of documentation to us, in either of the official languages. All of us know that if we want to access a report, we can get it on the Internet. This is not a language-specific issue - it should be addressed as a waste issue. The document referred to by Deputy O'Shea had a particularly fancy cover. We have said time and again that all these issues should be examined. The number of documents that have to be translated is quite limited. I estimate that 90% of the cost of preparing documents involves preparing them and just 10% of the cost relates to translating them. The vast majority of documents in this country are produced, quite legally, in English only. I agree it is about time we cut down on the size and number of documents that are produced. Documents are eating up huge sums of money.

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Minister could make a ministerial order to prevent such waste.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I ask the Deputy to allow Deputy O'Shea to have his questions answered.

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will.

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Shea knows I am more than willing to debate this issue in detail at the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Two legitimate issues arise in the context of Deputy O'Shea's question. The Official Languages Act 2003, which was introduced on foot of the Ó Beoláin judgment, which would have forced us to translate every document in the country into Irish, requires us to translate a limited number of documents. We need to consider how we can provide documents in two languages at a minimum cost. We can publish them on the Internet, we can reduce the size of documents and we can use standard templates for the purposes of translation.

Photo of Brian O'SheaBrian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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As usual, the Minister has gone all around the shop. We need to get down to the basic point. We want to promote the use of the Irish language. We are not helping the language by publishing a pile of stuff that very few people read. The point I am making is that money which could be better spent on other aspects of the Irish language is being wasted. The Minister needs to have a good look at this. The country is in a bad state at the moment. Things are not going well for the language, which is being hindered by delays. We have to stop wasting money. The Minister is well aware that this sort of thing is antagonising people and causing them to move away from the Irish language. It is about time the Minister got real by starting to eliminate waste and getting rid of some of his obscurantist ideas.

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I did not come up with any of the ideas we are talking about in this case. We are talking about the law of the land, as passed by the Oireachtas.

Photo of Brian O'SheaBrian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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The law can be changed.

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy can make proposals for a change in the law any day he likes.

Photo of Brian O'SheaBrian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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It is obvious that the Minister does not have any proposals of his own.

3:00 pm

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Some English speakers seem to want to deny this country's Irish speakers their right to read basic documents in Irish. The Act requires annual reports and policy proposal documents to be published in Irish. All other documents can be published in English only in this State. I believe Irish speakers have a right to access certain documents in the Irish language. The Deputy can disagree with me on that point if he likes. Those who are antagonised by the fact that Irish speakers, including native speakers, are being given their rights relating to a limited number of fundamental documents are entitled to their opinions. I do not agree with them. The majority of the Members of this House concurred with me, thankfully, when they voted for the legislation in question.