COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 08, 2015

QUESTION NO.23

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive to state what is his reaction to the recent report by An Coimisineir Teanga in respect of the failings of Local Authorities to safeguard the rights of Irish Language speakers and will he confirm what services are available to such people in our Council.

REPLY:

Public bodies including local authorities are not obliged to use recorded oral announcements at public telephone numbers on their systems, but if they are in use, they are obliged to ensure that those announcements are adhering to the Regulations, i.e. the announcement must be in Irish or in Irish and English and must convey the same message in both official languages.

As part of the Irish Language Commissioner Office’s audit plan for 2014, it was decided to audit the use of official languages on recorded oral announcements in use by local authorities. The aim of the audit was to develop an overall view of the level of compliance by local authorities with the Regulations.

At different times, a call was made to the main number of each local authority, both during and after normal working hours, as well as a call to the Housing Section and the Library Services outside of normal working hours.

A report on what the audit revealed was forwarded by An Coimisinéir Teanga to South Dublin County Council in November 2014, informing the Council that its recorded telephone announcements were not in compliance with the Regulations. South Dublin County Council was then requested to provide by the 4th December a time framework to ensure compliance with the Regulations.

As requested, the Council and Library Services carried out a review of our recorded telephone announcements and by mid December, the Council had translated and recorded new versions in compliance with the obligations outlined in the Official Languages Act 2003 for the following recorded telephone announcements:

-Normal working hours

-After office hours

-Emergency Service

-Library Services

South Dublin County Council will build on the principles of Quality Customer Service as outlined in our current Irish Language Scheme by:

• ensuring that persons who wish to conduct their business in Irish with the council are facilitated
• building incrementally on the existing levels of service currently provided in the Irish Language
• identifying areas of service that can be improved