Post by Wasp on Jan 21, 2008 12:43:47 GMT
ie online
21 January 2008
Revealed: Gaeilge costs EU €13,000 per minute
By Mary Regan
LESS than 30 minutes of Irish was spoken in the European Parliament in the first full year as an official language — working out at a little less than €13,000 a minute.
Despite pressure to have Gaeilge recognised as an official language, records show six of our 13 MEPs have never used Irish in parliamentary debates since January 1, 2007.
The Government has been warned that use of the language is being undermined and EU officials will carry out a review in four years’ time to see if its official status should continue.
The cost of implementing the language across all EU institutions is estimated to be in the region of €3.5 million.
The cost of interpretation in the parliament alone was €360,000 last year, meaning each minute of debate translated at a cost of almost €13,000.
There are four interpreters working in the parliament. Two man a booth at a time, and there are two shifts a day for the 10 days the parliament sits each month. These interpreters cost €30,000 a month, which is paid by the EU with contributions from individual member states.
A parliament spokesperson said two interpreters are needed at a time in case there is an “overflow”, or two MEPs speaking Irish in succession.
Records show that an overflow is unlikely, with an average of 30 seconds of Irish spoken for each day the parliament sits.
Six MEPs have never used Irish, including Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Féin), Gay Mitchell, Mairéad McGuinness, Avril Doyle (all Fine Gael), Eoin Ryan (Fianna Fáil) and Independent Kathy Sinnott.
Colm Burke (FG) spoke one Irish sentence at the start of one of his speeches.
This means none of the current Fine Gael MEPs, with the exception of Jim Higgins, have spoken more than one sentence of Irish in the parliament. This is despite Enda Kenny jointly tabled the Dáil motion to request that Irish would be made an official language.
Fianna Fáil MEPs are the most frequent users of Irish.
Seán Ó Neachtain accounts for more than a third of Irish spoken in the European Parliament, while Brian Crowley was the second highest user of the language among Irish MEPs.
Sinn Féin’s Bairbre de Brún was also a regular user of the language in parliament.
As well as the interpreting service, there are three full- time translators for the parliament, at €243,000 per year to translate texts.
In December, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern, urged his colleagues to make use of the interpreting service in meetings.
21 January 2008
Revealed: Gaeilge costs EU €13,000 per minute
By Mary Regan
LESS than 30 minutes of Irish was spoken in the European Parliament in the first full year as an official language — working out at a little less than €13,000 a minute.
Despite pressure to have Gaeilge recognised as an official language, records show six of our 13 MEPs have never used Irish in parliamentary debates since January 1, 2007.
The Government has been warned that use of the language is being undermined and EU officials will carry out a review in four years’ time to see if its official status should continue.
The cost of implementing the language across all EU institutions is estimated to be in the region of €3.5 million.
The cost of interpretation in the parliament alone was €360,000 last year, meaning each minute of debate translated at a cost of almost €13,000.
There are four interpreters working in the parliament. Two man a booth at a time, and there are two shifts a day for the 10 days the parliament sits each month. These interpreters cost €30,000 a month, which is paid by the EU with contributions from individual member states.
A parliament spokesperson said two interpreters are needed at a time in case there is an “overflow”, or two MEPs speaking Irish in succession.
Records show that an overflow is unlikely, with an average of 30 seconds of Irish spoken for each day the parliament sits.
Six MEPs have never used Irish, including Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Féin), Gay Mitchell, Mairéad McGuinness, Avril Doyle (all Fine Gael), Eoin Ryan (Fianna Fáil) and Independent Kathy Sinnott.
Colm Burke (FG) spoke one Irish sentence at the start of one of his speeches.
This means none of the current Fine Gael MEPs, with the exception of Jim Higgins, have spoken more than one sentence of Irish in the parliament. This is despite Enda Kenny jointly tabled the Dáil motion to request that Irish would be made an official language.
Fianna Fáil MEPs are the most frequent users of Irish.
Seán Ó Neachtain accounts for more than a third of Irish spoken in the European Parliament, while Brian Crowley was the second highest user of the language among Irish MEPs.
Sinn Féin’s Bairbre de Brún was also a regular user of the language in parliament.
As well as the interpreting service, there are three full- time translators for the parliament, at €243,000 per year to translate texts.
In December, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern, urged his colleagues to make use of the interpreting service in meetings.
