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Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga to be Closed.

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  • 19-11-2011 6:53pm
    #1
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭


    An Coimisinéir Teanga


    The Government has announced that it is going to close the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga and transfer its functions to the Office of the Ombudsman as part of its public sector reform plan.

    The problem with this is that the Government announced only a couple of weeks ago a public consultation as part of a review of the Official Languages Act which includes the role and functions of the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga. It's seams they are asking the public to engage in a consultation on an Office they have already decided to close:rolleyes:


    The other problem is that there are no savings to be made. No-one will lose their jobs. If anything, there will be greater expense to the exchequer if they attempt to move the current staff to the Ombudsman's Office in Dublin.

    The question has to be asked, How does the Government view the rights of Irish speakers in Ireland.




    People have already been protesting against this decision outside the Dáil.


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«13456

Comments

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    #2
    cyclopath2001
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,359 ✭✭✭cyclopath2001


    deise go deo wrote: »
    The other problem is that there are no savings to be made. No-one will lose their jobs. If anything, there will be greater expense to the exchequer if they attempt to move the current staff to the Ombudsman's Office
    This is true, but maybe the review of the OLA will provide the answers.

    The OLA and the Language Commissioner's role and extraordinary powers are a relic of the discredited Fianna Fail regime's profligate policies and it is sensible that a more rational and economically sound view be taken of how to preserve a language which is the primary tongue of a small number of our population.


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    #3
    laoch na mona
    Registered Users Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭laoch na mona


    FG are totally against irish culture sure didn't Gay Mitchel want to join the common wealth


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    #4
    p1akuw47h5r3it
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,001 ✭✭✭p1akuw47h5r3it


    laoch na mona wrote: »
    FG are totally against irish culture sure didn't Gay Mitchel want to join the common wealth

    How does this prove that he or FG are against Irish culture?

    Ridiculous post.


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    #5
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    cyclopath2001 wrote: »
    This is true, but maybe the review of the OLA will provide the answers.

    The OLA and the Language Commissioner's role and extraordinary powers are a relic of the discredited Fianna Fail regime's profligate policies and it is sensible that a more rational and economically sound view be taken of how to preserve a language which is the primary tongue of a small number of our population.


    What extraordinary powers does An Comisinéir Teanga have? X-Ray vision?

    Closing the Office dose not seam rational or economically sound to me, perhaps you would care to expand on the point?


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    #6
    cyclopath2001
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,359 ✭✭✭cyclopath2001


    deise go deo wrote: »
    What extraordinary powers does An Comisinéir Teanga have? X-Ray vision?
    The power to force public bodies to use Irish and to fine or imprison people who don't comply.
    deise go deo wrote: »
    As for closing the office, there are no savings to be made form doing it, what's economically sound about that?
    Saving on rent, redundant staff ( eventually) and savings when the powers granted by Fianna Fail are no longer imposed and we only need to use one official language.


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    #7
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    cyclopath2001 wrote: »
    The power to force public bodies to use Irish and to fine or imprison people who don't comply.

    Do you consider it extraordinary for Public Bodies to be expected to comply with the law, of for their to be sanctions for people breaking the law?
    Saving on rent, redundant staff ( eventually) and savings when the powers granted by Fianna Fail are no longer imposed and we only need to use one official language.

    So minimal savings years from now at the expense of peoples language rights? No thanks.


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    #8
    laoch na mona
    Registered Users Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭laoch na mona


    surely we should encourage people / companies / government departments to speak irish


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    #9
    usernamegoes
    Registered Users Posts: 901 ✭✭✭usernamegoes


    I hope that we will see a review of the OLA soon, such that many of the requirements be removed. I have been emailing TDs with my view on this issue. For instance, many perfectly good signs will need to be replaced my the end of next year I think is the deadline.

    I was on the Luas recently, looked up at the stop information and couldn't figure out most of the stops; was a pain in the ass.

    Hopefully, this is a step towards a review of OLA.


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    #10
    cyclopath2001
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,359 ✭✭✭cyclopath2001


    laoch na mona wrote: »
    surely we should encourage people / companies / government departments to speak irish
    At what cost?


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    #11
    Sica
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭Sica


    deise go deo wrote: »
    So minimal savings years from now at the expense of peoples language rights? No thanks.

    These are the savings in "backroom bureaucrats" that the public have been demanding for months. You can't cut public sector jobs and expect to be able to retain the same level of public services.


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    #12
    Sand
    Registered Users Posts: 12,477 ✭✭✭✭Sand


    Id be interested in engaging with the protestors views, but unfortunately, they seem to have written their signs in a language that neither I nor 98% of the modern Irish population can understand.


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    #13
    cyclopath2001
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,359 ✭✭✭cyclopath2001


    deise go deo wrote: »
    Do you consider it extraordinary for Public Bodies to be expected to comply with the law, of for their to be sanctions for people breaking the law?
    The law itself is extraordinary in the huge costs it proposes to impose on society.


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    #14
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Sand wrote: »
    Id be interested in engaging with the protestors views, but unfortunately, they seem to have written their signs in a language that neither I nor 98% of the modern Irish population can understand.

    98%? There's a lot more Irish out there than you think. Most of the signs are bilingual anyway from what I can see.


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    #15
    jank
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 13,018 ✭✭✭✭jank


    Sand wrote: »
    Id be interested in engaging with the protestors views, but unfortunately, they seem to have written their signs in a language that neither I nor 98% of the modern Irish population can understand.

    Ignorance is bliss eh?


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    #16
    LovelyHurling
    Closed Accounts Posts: 955 ✭✭✭LovelyHurling


    Ah here, if you want to blame anyone for the downfall of the first language, first set your sights on the Tuiseal Ginideach. Forget reform of the Junior Cert, reform the genitive case instead.

    Maidir leis an gCoimisinéir ata i gceist, does anyone have a link to anything that outlines the savings that are to be made by this move?

    It does seem a little strange not to simply move the Coimisinéir into another office, as opposed to abolishing his office entirely and bringing the responsibility elsewhere.


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    #17
    exaisle
    Registered Users Posts: 2,673 ✭✭✭exaisle


    Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga to be Closed.

    Good.

    I wasn't even aware that it was open....


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    #18
    PRAF
    Registered Users Posts: 1,801 ✭✭✭PRAF


    Good riddance. Another useless quango that no one will really miss. If people are getting worked up over this, what hope have we got to get the country back to an even keel.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm all behind Irish culture and the Irish language. However, I don't think forcing public bodies to translate 100 page reports into Irish does a single thing for the language. The only thing this kind of initiative ever did was:
    - impose unnecessary costs on the public service
    - create a small number of fake jobs for some Irish speakers to translate these documents

    It did nothing to foster a real love of the language amongst the people


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    #19
    raymon
    Registered Users Posts: 2,774 ✭✭✭raymon


    We don't have any money to pay for this type of nonsense office.

    Don't let the door hit you on the way out Commissioner


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    #20
    Lord TSC
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 42,416 Mod ✭✭✭✭Lord TSC


    laoch na mona wrote: »
    surely we should encourage people / companies / government departments to speak irish

    Surely its possible to encourage people/companies/government departments to speak Irish without forcing them to.


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    #21
    Sica
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭Sica


    If there is a demand for Irish languages services the businesses and the public sector alike will create those services to cater for that demand. Unfortunately a lot of policy behind promoting the Irish language has been coercive and coercion is never going to foster a love for the Irish language.


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    #22
    LovelyHurling
    Closed Accounts Posts: 955 ✭✭✭LovelyHurling


    raymon wrote: »
    We don't have any money to pay for this type of nonsense office.
    The role is still extant, per se, it's just being adapted into another man's workload.

    Even the McCarthy report didn't recommend its closure, it took the view that the closure would be pointless. So it isn't clear what the benefit is here, or if there is any.


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    #23
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    LovelyHurling wrote: »
    Maidir leis an gCoimisinéir ata i gceist, does anyone have a link to anything that outlines the savings that are to be made by this move?


    As far as I can tell there will be no real savings to this move, it will probably cost money if anything.


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    #24
    dsmythy
    Registered Users Posts: 10,508 ✭✭✭✭dsmythy


    deise go deo wrote: »
    As far as I can tell there will be no real savings to this move, it will probably cost money if anything.

    If it did save money you wouldn't mind it being abolished?


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    #25
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    Sand wrote: »
    Id be interested in engaging with the protestors views, but unfortunately, they seem to have written their signs in a language that neither I nor 98% of the modern Irish population can understand.

    Where did you get the notion that only two percent of the population can understand Irish?

    The Main slogans on the signs that were not Bilingual were 'Keep our Commissioner', 'Support our Commissioner' and 'Act without a Commissioner, act without a soul'.

    So feel free to engage away now that you have been enlightened.


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    #26
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    dsmythy wrote: »
    If it did save money you wouldn't mind it being abolished?

    Of course I would mind, but at least there would be some logic to it.


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    #27
    cyclopath2001
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,359 ✭✭✭cyclopath2001


    deise go deo wrote: »
    Of course I would mind, but at least there would be some logic to it.
    The logic is that it signals a downgrading of the office of Irish language enforcement. A review of the hugely expensive obligations created by Fianna Fail will follow and some sanity will hopfully return to Irish language preservation policy.


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    #28
    rodento
    Registered Users Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭rodento


    How much would we save if every government documant/report didn't have to be translated into Irish:eek:


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    #29
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    cyclopath2001 wrote: »
    The logic is that it signals a downgrading of the office of Irish language enforcement. A review of the hugely expensive obligations created by Fianna Fail will follow and some sanity will hopfully return to Irish language preservation policy.

    Hugely Expensive? I haven't seen the figures, perhaps you would be kind enough to provide them.

    I would also like to know what you would consider sanity when it comes to the 'Irish language preservation policy'.


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    #30
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    rodento wrote: »
    How much would we save if every government documant/report didn't have to be translated into Irish:eek:

    I don't know, but that's hardily relevant anyway as not even close to every document is translated as it stands.


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    #31
    Sica
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭Sica


    rodento wrote: »
    How much would we save if every government documant/report didn't have to be translated into Irish:eek:

    Lots. Not only because of the saving in translation costs but also because the Government would start using much more intelligent use of the internet - the reason why Irish Government websites are so poor is because of the obligation to translate everything into Irish - they can't afford the translation costs so don't put ANYTHING on their websites.


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