Written answers
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Department of Finance
Irish Language
9:00 pm
Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of translating all State documents into Irish; the cost of printing same; if a proposal for storing these electronically and printing as required has been investigated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42610/09]
Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The costs of translating and printing documents into Irish in respect of the Department of Finance and the bodies under the aegis of my Department are provided in the tables below. Information is provided for 2008 and for 2009 to date. In the majority of cases documents are published electronically and available for printing as required.
Department of Finance
Year 2008
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| FOI Annual Report 2007 (Available for downloading and printing from website www.foi.gov.ie) | €300.00 | - | €300.00 |
| Induction Manual | €3,964.00 | €3,398.00 | €7,362.00 |
| Nomination Forms for courses | €39.00 | - | €39.00 |
| Circular 18/2004 People with a Disability | €1,045.00 | - | €1,045.00 |
| Decentralisation Tables/ info for Website | €153.00 | - | €153.00 |
| Budget 2008 | €3,978.00 | - | €3,978.00 |
| Budget 2009 | €3,898.00 | - | €3,898.00 |
| Revised Estimates for the Public Service 2008 | €555.00 | - | €555.00 |
| Public Capital Programme 2008 | €2,505.00 | - | €2,505.00 |
| NDP Annual Report 2007 | €16,355.00 | - | €16,355.00 |
| NDP 2007-2013 Introduction Leaflet | €225.00 | - | €225.00 |
| NDP Calendar 2008 – Bi-lingual | €175.00 | €4,362.00 (Printing costs paid in 2007) | €4,537.00 |
| Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies | €1,050.00 | - | €1,050.00 |
| Civil Service Grievance Procedure Report 2007 | €30.00 | - | €30.00 |
| 2007 Annual Report of Civil Service Employee Assistance Service | €300.00 | - | €300.00 |
| Civil Service Grievance Procedure Report 2007 | €486.00 | - | €486.00 |
| Appropriation Account 2007 | €60.00 | - | €60.00 |
| Finance Accounts 2007 | €224.00 | - | €224.00 |
| Pensioners Handbook | €1,136.00 | €15,032.00 (Includes English & Irish printing costs) | €16,168.00 |
| Ireland's Participation in the IMF and World Bank Annual Report | €2,241.00 | - | €2,241.00 |
| Statement of Strategy 2008-2010 | €855.00 | - | €855.00 |
| Progress Report 2007 | €1,013.00 | - | €1,013.00 |
| Total costs 2008 | €40,587.00 | €22,792.00 | €63,379.00 |
2009 Year to Date
Cost of translating and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| FOI Annual Report 2008(Available for downloading and printing from website www.foi.gov.ie) | €330.00 | - | €330.00 |
| S.I. in relation to An Comisinéir Teanga(Not available for downloading and printing at present as the S.I has yet to be signed into law) | €182.00 | - | €182.00 |
| Clerical Officer Generic Training Manual | €3,405.00 | - | €3,405.00 |
| Additional Information on Ethics Guidelines | €104.00 | - | €104.00 |
| Incentivised Scheme of Early Retirement | €60.00 | - | €60.00 |
| Construction Procurement Reform - website | €50.00 | - | €50.00 |
| Supplementary Budget 2009 | €183.00 | - | €183.00 |
| Revised Estimates for the Public Service 2009 | €411.00 | - | €411.00 |
| 2007 Annual Report of Civil Service Employee Assistance Service | €300.00 | - | €300.00 |
| Appropriation Account 2008 | €62.00 | - | €62.00 |
| Finance Accounts 2008 | €243.00 | - | €243.00 |
| Ireland's Participation in the IMF and World Bank Annual Report | €1,770.00 | - | €1,770.00 |
| Total costs 2009 | €7,100.00 | - | €7,100.00 |
Where printing was undertaken on an in-house basis, costs are not available. The majority of documents are published electronically and are available for printing as required.
Translation costs for bodies under the aegises of my Department
Revenue Commissioners
2008
Cost of translating and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| Annual Report 2007 | €4,748.00 | €9,160.00 | €13,908.00 |
| Statistical Report 2006 | €2,349.00 | - | €2,349.00 |
| Code of Practice for Determining Employment Status of Individuals | €560.00 | - | €560.00 |
| Consultation document on Mandatory eFiling/ePayments | €135.00 | - | €135.00 |
| Statutory Instruments | €2,175.00. | €782 | €2,957 |
| Total costs | €9,967.00 | €9,942.00 | €19,909.00 |
2009 Year to date
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| Statutory Instruments | €726.00 | €1,370.00 | €2,096.00 |
| Annual Report 2008 | €4,207.00 | - | €4,433.00 |
| Strategy Statement | €118.00 | - | €118.00 |
| Total costs | €5,051.00 | €1,370.00 | €6,421.00 |
A printed version of the Annual Report of the Revenue Commissioners for 2008 was not produced. The report (Irish and English versions) was published in an electronic format and made available for download on the Revenue website.
The question of whether any of Revenue's other statutory publications will be printed or be made available in electronic format only in future will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
National Treasury Management Agency
2008
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| Carbon Fund Annual Report 2007 | €2,359.00 | - | €2,359.00 |
| National Development Finance Agency Annual Report 2007 | €5,505.00 | - | €5,505.00 |
| National Treasury Management Agency Annual Report 2007 | €7,988.00 | - | €7,988.00 |
| National Pension Reserve Fund Annual Report 2007 | €3,400.00 | - | €3450.00 |
| Total costs | €19,252 | €19,252 |
2009 Year to date
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total costs € |
| Carbon Fund Annual Report 2008 | €1,336.00 | - | €1,336.00 |
| National Development Finance Agency Annual Report 2008 | €2,934.00 | - | €2,934.00 |
| National Pension Reserve Fund Annual Report 2008 | €3,450.00 | - | €3450.00 |
| National Treasury Management Agency Annual Report 2008 | €9,714.00 | €395.00 | €10,109.00 |
| Total costs | €17,434.00 | €395.00 | €17,829.00 |
State Laboratory
2008
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| Statement of Strategy | €1159.00 | €1470 | €2629.00 |
| Annual Report 2007 | €1525.00 | - | €1525.00 |
| Total costs | €2,685.00 | €1,470 | €4,154.00 |
2009 Year to date
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total costs € |
| Annual Report 2008 | €958.00 | - | €958.00 |
| Total costs | €958.00 | - | €958.00 |
Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments
2008
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing costs € | Total Costs € |
| Audit of Recruitment and Selection in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners | €1,700 | - | €1,700 |
| Audit of Recruitment Licence No. RL001/04 and policies and practices relating to internal appointments within the Public Appointments Service | €2,264.00 | - | €2,264.00 |
| Audit of Feedback Practices across the Civil Service and certain Public Service Bodies. | €603.00 | - | €603.00 |
| Audit of policies and practices relating to internal appointment processes conducted by the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science during the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 | €1,141.00 | - | €1,141.00 |
| Audit of policies and practices relating to internal appointment processes conducted by the Secretary General of the Department of Transport during the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 | €382.00 | - | €382.00 |
| Audit of policies and practices relating to internal appointment processes conducted by the Secretary General of the Department of Health during the period 1 January 2006 to 30 November 2006 | €594.00 | - | €594.00 |
| Audit of policies and practices relating to internal appointment processes conducted by the Secretary General of the Department of An Taoiseach during the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 | €798.00 | - | €798.00 |
| Strategy Statement | €337.00 | €1908.00 | €2,245.00 |
| Annual Report 2007 | €771.00 | €4295.00 | €5,066.00 |
| Quality Customer Service Action Plan | €363.00 | - | €363.00 |
| Audit of Recruitment Agency usage by the HSE | €617.00 | - | €617.00 |
| Irish Language Scheme under Section 11 of the Official Languages Act 2003 | €147.00 | - | €147.00 |
| Audit of policies and practices relating to internal appointment processes conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman | €711.00 | - | €711.00 |
| Audit of policies and practices relating to internal appointment processes conducted by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General | €594.00 | - | €594.00 |
| Audit of policies and practices relating to internal appointment processes conducted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions | €300.00 | - | €300.00 |
| Audit of Recruitment Licence and policies and practices relating to internal appointments within the Department of Social and Family Affairs | €1,999.00 | - | €1,999.00 |
| Audit of Recruitment Licence and policies and practices relating to internal appointments within the Department of Foreign Affairs | €1,595.00 | - | €1,595.00 |
| Audit of Recruitment Licence and policies and practices relating to internal appointments within An Garda Síochána | €1,759.00 | - | €1,759.00 |
| Total costs | €16,675.00 | €6,203.00 | €22,878.00 |
2009 Year to date
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total costs € |
| Audit of Recruitment Licences No. RL004/05 and RL009/05 held by the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Service Executive | €2,139.00 | - | €2,139.00 |
| Annual Report 2008 | €761.00 | €328.00 | €1,089.00 |
| Audit of Recruitment Licence and policies and practices relating to internal appointments within The Courts Service | €1,170.00 | - | €1,170.00 |
| Audit of Recruitment Licence and policies and practices relating to internal appointments within the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government | €2,671.00 | - | €2,671.00 |
| Total costs | €6,741.00 | €328.00 | €7,069.00 |
All the listed reports were required to be translated under the Official Languages Act 2003 and the Office's Irish Languages Scheme prepared under Section 11 of the Act. The Office currently publishes all of its reports electronically, and will print reports in-house on request. In 2008 only the Strategy Statement and Annual Report 2007 were printed. In 2009 the Annual Report 2008 was published electronically and on CD with small printing costs.
Valuation Office
2008
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| Revaluation Explanatory GuideStored electronically and is printed in-house when requested by members of the Public. | €159.00 | - | €159.00 |
| Total Cost | €159.00 | - | €159.00 |
Public Appointments Service 2008
Cost of translating and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| Health and Character Declaration | €371.00 | - | €371.00 |
| Executive Officer Campaign Material | €1,305.00 | - | €1,305.00 |
| Clerical Officer Candidate Information | €85.00 | - | €85.00 |
| Clerical Officer Interview Guide | €1,122.00 | - | €1,122.00 |
| Clerical Officer Campaign Material | €848.00 | - | €848.00 |
| Annual Report | €1,545.00 | 6,800* | €8,345.00 |
| Response to Candidate Correspondence | €45.00 | - | €45.00 |
| Candidate Booklet for Recruitment Campaign | €362.00 | - | €362.00 |
| Candidate Booklet for Recruitment Campaign | €434.00 | - | €434.00 |
| Material for Medical Advisor Recruitment Campaign | €271.00 | - | €271.00 |
| Information for website | €374.00 | - | €373.00 |
| Strategy Statement | €1,292.00 | €11,050* | €12,342.00 |
| Information for website | €1,270.00 | - | €1,270.00 |
| Material for Recruitment Campaign | €134.00 | - | €134.00 |
| Information for website | €64.00 | - | €64.00 |
| Material for Recruitment Campaign | €59.00 | - | €59.00 |
| Irish Scheme | €1,237.00 | - | €1,237.00 |
| Translation of ́Special Needs ́ Form for website | €252.00 | - | €252.00 |
| Quality Customer Service Action Plan & Customer Charter 2008-2010 | €2,208.00 | - | €2,208.00 |
| Material for Graduate/Administrative Grades Campaigns | €1,062.00 | - | €1,062.00 |
| Total Costs | €14,340.00 | €17,850.00 | €32,190.00 |
2009 Year to date
Cost of translating documents and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| Job Titles for website | €740.00 | - | €740.00 |
| Material for Hospital Consultant Campaign | €84.00 | - | €84.00 |
| Information for website | €44.00 | - | €44.00 |
| Material for Recruitment Campaign | €309.00 | - | €309.00 |
| Material for Recruitment Campaign | €100.00 | - | €100.00 |
| Material for Hospital Consultant Campaign | €275.00 | - | €275.00 |
| Material for Hospital Consultant Campaign | €88.00 | - | €88.00 |
| Total cost | €1,640.00 | - | €1,640.00 |
*Strategy Statement and Annual Reports printed had Irish and English version in the same document.
PAS employ a full-time Irish Translator in order to translate application forms, information booklets and other campaign related documentation into Irish. Since the current Translator commenced employment in April 2008 every attempt has been made to ensure that material is translated in-house. All recruitment and selection related documentation is stored electronically and printed in-house as required. In 2008 it was decided, as a cost saving measure, that all Corporate Publications would also be stored electronically and printed in-house as required (e.g. Quality Customer Service Action Plan 2008 – 2010 and the Annual Report 2008).
Office of the Ombudsman
2008
Cost of translating and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| 2007 Annual Reports | €10,177.00 | €10,601.00 | €20,778.00 |
| Translation of various correspondence and decision letter to Irish for reply or publication on website | €22,881.00 | - | €22,881.00 |
| Freedom of Information- The First Decade | €1,650 | €2,873.00 | €4,523.00 |
| Digest of Cases for Ombudsman | €1,441.00 | €1,464.00 | €2,905.00 |
| Total Costs | €36,149.00 | €14,938.00 | €51,087.00 |
2009 Year to date
Cost of translating and printing documents in Irish
| Document Title | Translation costs € | Printing Costs € | Total Costs € |
| 2008 Annual Reports | €10,126.00 | €13,369.00 | €23,495.00 |
| Translation of various correspondence and decision letter to Irish for reply or publication on website | €18,163.00 | - | €18,163.00 |
| FAQ and Best practice leaflets | €405.00 | €1,361.00 | €1,766.00 |
| Customer feedback forms | €603.00 | €1,221.00 | €1,824.00 |
| Total Costs | €29,987.00 | €15,981.00 | €45,248 |
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