Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tá fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit sa Teach. I am following Senator Noone and others in giving my delivery as Béarla because my tutor has gone down the west and I must source a new tutor. I wish her well.

It makes absolute sense to bring this together; it makes no sense to have two offices doing a similar job. It would be much more efficient to have one office doing it, it would eliminate confusion and tension and is the correct approach. I will not repeat the remarks of my colleagues but I will make a couple of points about translating documents into Irish.

It is wholly appropriate that all legislation should be available in both English and Irish. Irish is regarded as our first language so it is a priority and should be done as quickly as possible, within reason. We must always bear in mind that reason is very important but the fact it must be done is critical. It is also correct that where necessary and appropriate, translation should be farmed out. There are plenty of people who are well capable of supplementing the services available here.

It might be provocative to say it but I must ask if we are doing the Irish language any favours when a county development plan must be translated in full into Irish when not one person will purchase a copy of it. Would that money not be far better spent promoting the learning of spoken Irish as opposed to wasting it on translation for the sake of translation? Where it is necessary and appropriate, it should be translated. Where there are people looking for a translation, it should be made available, but a county development plan will consist of seven volumes and it will probably cost between ¤60,000 and ¤100,000 to translate into Irish. It is very frustrating when not a single person requested or bought it. That is a complete waste of taxpayers' money and does the language no favours; it actually turns people against the language.

The Irish language is something we should all be proud of. It is regrettable, and I include myself in this, that the percentage of the population who speak Irish has reduced year on year. It is our job as people who genuinely like the language and see it as an essential part of our heritage that makes us who we are that we should ensure people speak the language and that money is spent appropriately on its promotion. I would much prefer to see that ¤60,000 spent to provide classes for those who want to learn Irish again and to promote oral Irish, refostering the love of Irish that we have in our DNA but that needs to be activated.

I support this Bill. Unfortunately I am unable to be here to hear the Minister's reply on the documents in local authorities and State agencies that are translated into Irish and left on the shelves and never picked up. I will get it from the record and will talk to the Minister of State about it privately in the future. In a situation where there are so many demands on resources there must be a common sense approach.