The Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs has dismissed as a weekend newspaper report that it costs the State up to €150 million a year to translate official documents into Irish.
The Sunday Tribunereported yesterday the Government was facing a bill of €100 million to recruit 2,000 more Irish speakers, due to provisions in the Official Languages Act.
But Mr Eamon Ó Cuív today described the claims as "nonsense" and "a work of fiction".
He told RTÉ this morning there is "no requirement in the Act to translate every piece of documentation produced by Government departments and bodies".
He insisted very few staff would have to be directly employed by the State because of the Act.
"I'd say at the moment, there's less than 10 extra" he insisted; "The whole thing is nonsense. That's what I say. This is a whole work of fiction."