Irish language service ‘farce’ at Oireachtas – which pays 20 translators

AN embarrassing breakdown in lavishly funded Irish translation services in Leinster House last week was described as a ‘farce’ by participants.

A senior counsel, Séamas Ó Tuathail, had given substantial notice that he intended to address the Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services as Gaeilge last week.

However, when his time came to address the committee the translation service did not work. Translators, based in a room in Leinster House, are supposed to provide simultaneous translation to the Dáil, Seanad and committees when notified. There are 20 translators employed by Leinster House, with some earning as much as €80,000 a year.

The Houses of the Oireachtas

‘It was a technical, not personnel, fault’

issued a statement to the Irish Mail on Sunday saying that the system had come down because of a ‘technical fault’.

However the man at the centre of the controversy, Mr Ó Tuathail, raised questions over whether a translator was available in the first place.

‘The question must be put, was there a translator available today? It’s a farce,’ said the irate lawyer.

He has given legal advice to the Right 2 Water campaign that an amendment to the Constitution is necessary to ensure that water services are not transferred from public ownership into the future.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh said that more than 40 minutes were spent trying to fix the fault as the witness waited.

‘It was a technical fault, not a personnel fault. We had obviously requested it when I spoke to Séamas Ó Tuathail a week or so before he came in, I had a conversation with him where he said he would like to give at least part of his presentation in Irish,’ said Mr Ó Céidigh.

‘I got the clerk who was beside me to actually go and check out what the problem was and rectify it. He came back to tell me it was a technical problem.

‘He was gone 10 minutes. He said they were working on it.’

Mr Ó Céidigh told the committee that a representative of the department would give a presentation in English to give the workers 30 more minutes to rectify the problem.

However, there were further excruciating scenes when Mr Ó Tuathail attempted to speak once again.

‘When they were finished and I asked Séamas Ó Tuathail to make his presentation, people put on their earphones, I didn’t put them on because I don’t need them,’ said Mr Ó Céidigh. ‘People put on their earphones and they couldn’t hear anything come out of them, I apologised to him on behalf on the committee.

‘I asked him to go ahead with his deliberation in English, which he did do. I had no choice,’ he said.

The translators employed in Leinster House are on a pay scale ranging from €29,337 up to €80,140, depending on grade and length of service. At present there are approximately 20 translators.

Mr Ó Tuathail said: ‘I said that I would continue in English, under protest. It raises serious questions about the sincerity of the commitment to bilingualism in the House.’

‘It raises questions on bilingual commitment’