If government departments like Social and Family Affairs had to spend "a few extra pence" to produce documents in Irish then "so be it", Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív said yesterday.
Mr Ó Cuív said there were no real costs to departments such as Gaeltacht Affairs and Údarás na Gaeltachta because they were providing a service in Irish and doing what they were supposed to be doing.
The €500,000 it will cost the Department of Social and Family Affairs for translation of documents into Irish was less than 0.2 per cent of the department's budget and was not substantial, he insisted.
Irish citizens had a right to seek services in the Irish language, Mr Ó Cuív added, and he challenged Labour's spokesman Brian O'Shea, claiming that his party did not believe Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas had a right to access services through Irish.
Mr O'Shea had raised the issue during Question Time when he asked the Minister in Irish what the cost would be of fulfilling the requirements of the Official Languages Act that documents and reports by Government departments and public bodies should be supplied in English and Irish.
The Waterford TD said no proper assessment had been made of the cost of implementing these provisions and he pointed out that it would cost the Department of Social and Family Affairs €500,000 to translate documents into Irish.
Mr Ó Cuív said Mr O'Shea had stated clearly that until now that department had not given a proper service through Irish. The cost to the department of fulfilling its legal obligations was less than 0.2 per cent of its budget and was not a substantial amount.
Mr O'Shea said the Gaeltacht was in danger and he was not satisfied that the Minister was doing anything satisfactory to address the problem. But Mr Ó Cuív responded sharply, challenging Mr O'Shea over the rights of Irish citizens to access services through Irish. He said the Official Languages Act was extremely important to the people of the Gaeltacht.
He asked Mr O'Shea if he believed citizens of the Gaeltacht had a right to access services such as paying for their car tax through Irish.
When Mr O'Shea suggested that the Minister should ask the people, Mr Ó Cuív claimed the Labour party did not believe citizens of the Gaeltacht had the right to access services in Irish, which the Labour deputy rejected.
Earlier Mr O'Shea expressed concern about the state of schooling in Gaeltacht areas, where "schools are now teaching through English".
A report on education in Gaeltacht areas showed the standard of Irish teaching "is a terrible mess altogether", said Mr O'Shea. It said 10 per cent of children coming out of Gaeltacht schools had very little Irish and 25 per cent had a reasonable level.
"The Gaeltacht is in danger and if the Gaeltacht fails, everything fails," he said.
Mr Ó Cuív said there were major challenges but there were "good and bad" stories in the report. The Government had done more for Irish than had been done in the previous 50 years.
Every department had responsibility for Irish, he said, and it was not just an issue for his department. On education, his department was a "liaison" for the Department of Education, but he believed the report's recommendations would be implemented.
