Irish Language Policy

This scheme was prepared in accordance with the Guidelines under Section 12 of the Official Languages Act 2003. it came into force on 1 July 2019.

This scheme builds on the principles of Quality Customer Service, and on the commitment in the department's Customer Charter to ensure that customers who wish to conduct their business through Irish can do so. It sets out the extent to which services are currently available through Irish, and identifies areas for future enhancement.

Copies of our previous schemes from 2005, 2009 and 2016 are available below.

In accordance with the Official Languages Act, the following documents are published in both Irish and English simultaneously:

• any document setting out public policy proposals
• any annual report
• any audited account or financial statement
• any statement of strategy required to be prepared under section 5 of the Public Service Management Act 1997

In addition, in order to recognise the spirit of the Act, and in line with our commitment to Quality Customer Service, we publish a range of other documents in each of the official languages - for example:

• Customer Charter
• The National Flag
• Cabinet Handbook
• The Guide to Government Buildings
• public consultation documents
• commemorative booklets

Documents which do not set out public policy proposals, have limited circulation, and are aimed at specialist groups, are published in English only at present. Speeches are published on the website in the language in which they were given.

It is our policy that the text and graphics are available in both languages on the main pages of the department's websites.