Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He is a regular visitor to the Seanad. We always like to see him here. As he has said, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2012 is a relatively straightforward Bill. The obvious goals of the legislation are to introduce greater efficiency, to save money, which we really need to do, and to consolidate the records and standards used when Irish-language translations are done, thereby ensuring such translations are more consistent.

The previous Government decided in November 2008 to approve the translation into Irish of all statutory instruments. That decision also established the central translations unit and led to a review of the official standard for Irish. Subsequently, in June 2011, the current Government said there was a need to begin to consolidate translation services within the Houses of the Oireachtas. Obviously, we have arrived at that point now that we are considering this legislation. The aim is to ensure there is consistency among the consolidated translation services. The new unit within the Houses of the Oireachtas will have statutory responsibility for translating primary and secondary legislation and ensuring the official standard for Irish is reviewed not less than once every seven years. Staff from the central translation unit have transferred to the Oireachtas pending the enactment of this sensible legislation.

Therefore, the two primary purposes of this Bill are to expand the role of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission by allowing it to assume functions previously held by the central translation unit, in terms of translating primary or secondary legislation, and to guarantee that the official standard for Irish - an caighdeán oifigiúil - is reviewed periodically. In any debate on this legislation, it needs to be emphasised that significant savings will be achieved on foot of it. We often talk here and in the Dáil about the need for public reform and the importance of getting more for less and achieving greater efficiencies. In its own small way, this Bill will do precisely that. It is envisaged that a financial saving will arise in the short to medium term from the consolidation of functions. It should also be mentioned that the introduction of consistency, in terms of having an official single standard of Irish, is needed and should be uncontroversial.

This Bill contains a number of provisions relating to the translation of legislation. It provides for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to translate statutory instruments made by Ministers, or by people other than Ministers when requested by 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. This could mean that we will be able to cater for the amount of legislation that is before the Houses at a given time. A serious amount of legislation is coming through at the moment. The model proposed in the Bill will involve the translation of statutory instruments on demand, subject to the availability of resources, with Departments or other public bodies paying for the cost of the service.

The second part of the Bill relates to caighdeán oifigiúil na Gaeilge. It provides for the publication of an caighdeán oifigiúil by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission at least once every seven years. This will ensure there is a consistent and evolving standard that takes account of any changes in the intervening period. Similarly, the Bill also provides that when the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission is conducting a review of an caighdeán oifigiúil, it should consult the Ministers for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Education and Skills, and Justice and Equality, as well as interest groups and the public, to ensure there is a wide consultative process in relation to the language. I believe this is a healthy step. It is important that we include as many groups as possible in the procedure. Given the two major points covered in this legislation, I suggest it should be seen for what it is - a straightforward Bill that will ensure greater efficiency in how we handle translation and greater consistency in how our legislation is translated. Ultimately, it will ensure that the translation processes receive the resources needed to do the job effectively.