Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated number and percentage of civil servants who are competent to carry out their duties through the medium of Irish and English in his Department; his views on whether this number is adequate; his plans to increase this number and percentage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2625/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The estimated number of officials in my Department who are competent to carry out their duties through both Irish and English is 35, or 1% of the total staff. In addition, almost 600 staff, or 17% of the total, are competent to conduct some business through Irish. To date my Department has been able to meet the demand of customers who wish to conduct their business through the medium of Irish. Staff who are required to speak Irish in an official capacity and who feel they need to improve their Irish language skills will be facilitated through the provision of Irish language training /refresher courses.