Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Community; Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs the proposals, if any, he has to review the operation of the Official Languages Act 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28741/10]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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If we get to Questions Nos. 13, 17 and 19 I will give all the details of when the transfer and delegation orders, etc., were made.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Chair is the Minister's hands and those of the Members.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I shudder to think. As indicated previously to the House, I wish to confirm that my Department keeps the work of implementing the Official Languages Act 2003 under continuing review. Furthermore, there is an obligation on me, as Minister, to review the operation of the Act each year, as provided for in section 5 of the Act, and to report formally to the Houses of the Oireachtas in that regard. The reports for the years to 2009 are available in the Oireachtas Library.

Whereas I am satisfied that considerable progress has been made to date in the implementation, on a phased basis, of the provisions of the Act, I agree with the view expressed by my predecessor that it will not be possible to achieve everything overnight. I can again confirm that I am committed to the implementation of the Official Languages Act and to the achievement of its objectives. Indeed, the implementation of the Act is one of the principles set out in the Government's policy statement on the Irish language, issued in December 2006, which forms the basis of the draft 20-year strategy for Irish, which was published in November 2009. The draft has been under consideration by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sports, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and I hope to receive the report shortly.

I am also committed to ensuring that the Act be implemented in as cost-effective a way as possible, particularly having regard to the current economic climate. My Department will continue to approach these matters in a realistic, flexible and pragmatic way, especially in agreeing statutory language schemes. In this context, a significant number of resources are already in place to assist public bodies in meeting their obligations as cost effectively as possible.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. The Minister stated that a review of the Act is being undertaken by the Department. The Act has been in place since 2003. Is it not time to examine how effective implementation of the Act has been in terms of what is the most important issue at the end of the day, namely, the use of the Irish language, in particular people speaking it? Considerable money is being spent on implementing the Act. There are documents being produced in the Irish language that are virtually unread. For instance, not many people read county development plans much less an Irish version of them. As development plans are important in terms of the planning process they must be accurately translated in order that people can use them.

Are we getting the best value from the resources being applied to implementation of the Official Languages Act? Could for instance that money be better used elsewhere to achieve other objectives? I am not convinced that implementation of the Act is value for money or is achieving anything in terms of the revival and wider use of the Irish language.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I understand what the Deputy is saying. However, as regards translation costs and so on, it has been pointed out by my predecessor on several occasions that the Act does not require that all documents be translated into Irish. It provides that only a number of key documents shall be published in each of the official languages. The question of costs since the Act was introduced in 2003 was addressed in a reply on 3 February. Of the 15 Departments of State, 11 replied. It is estimated by my Department that the average direct cost amounted to approximately €600,000 per annum or approximately €55,000 per Department. I am of the view that no fair minded person would consider these costs excessive or unreasonable. I also believe that public bodies, particularly in regard to the translation of documents can, as Deputy O'Shea said, achieve greater cost effectiveness. This could be secured by planning earlier in the process for translation, greater use of standardised templates for documents such as annual reports, which are available, and publication by way of CD or the Internet rather than hard copy.

The development by Forás na Gaeilge of a number of support services, including the roll-out of the accreditation system for translators and the development of an Irish language translation memory resource for public bodies will also assist in ensuring public bodies receive a translation product that is reliable and meets a high standard. I do not support the view that money is not being wisely spent in respect of implementation of the Official Languages Act.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I agree with Deputy O'Shea. I believe that a directive should go out to local authorities and State agencies in regard to uploading documents onto their websites owing to the cost involved.

There is a major problem in respect of signage, in particular in Gaeltacht areas where signs are displayed in Irish only. In every county on the way to Gaeltacht areas, including in my own county, signs displaying place names in Irish have been painted over and the English version of the place name has been inserted. Perhaps by way of the review of the Official Languages Act consideration might be given to signs being bilingual, with the place name in Irish the bigger of the two, I do not mind. This matter needs to be addressed. We are making a fool of ourselves and the countryside is being destroyed with people painting over signs displayed in Irish and this is causing problems for tourists and tourism in Gaeltacht areas. A man, a fluent Irish speaker, told me he is losing business as a result of the new signage.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the issue raised by Deputy Ring. Local authorities are responsible for road and other signage in their areas. The guidelines in terms of what should be displayed on signs is clearly established. The obligations of the Official Languages Act must also be complied with. That being said, we would always encourage that sensible and pragmatic approaches be taken in this regard. Enactment of the Official Languages Act in July 2003 was an important statement. The Act is underpinned by legislation and Supreme Court findings and I would not tamper with it easily.