John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 327: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount which has been spent by his Department in bringing into effect the provisions of the Official Languages Act 2003. [30525/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The main area of expenditure on the Irish language in my Department is through Gaeleagras na Seirbhíse Poiblí. Gaeleagras was established in the Department in 1971 with the general aim of promoting the Irish language throughout the Civil Service. Gaeleagras continues to make a significant contribution to the promotion and development of the use of Irish in the Civil Service including supporting the implementation of the Official Languages Act 2003. In anticipation of an increased level of activity in 2005, the allocation for Gaeleagras this year is €369,000, an increase of €119,000 over the 2004 allocation.

Outside Gaelagreas, work relating to implementing the Official Languages Act is spread across the Department and is undertaken in conjunction with officials' existing duties. It is therefore not possible to provide an overall cost for the implementation of the Act in the Department. However the additional costs incurred by the Department associated with using external translation and printing services etc. arising from the Act was in the order of €33,300 in 2004 and €8,670 to date in 2005.