TAXPAYERS have been hit with a bill of at least €1.6million for translating exam papers, reports, leaflets and other papers into Irish.

State bodies must get all documents of “major public importance” translated ‘as gaeilge’ to comply with the Official Languages Act.

But many of the Irish versions are NEVER read.

A probe carried out by the Irish Sun found the bill for 63 departments, councils and other government agencies for 2012 comes to at least €1.6million.

These costs apply to outside contracts only so do not include the time spent by officials and civil servants in translating documents internally as part of their job.

The State Examinations Office, under the control of the Department of Education, had the highest bill of €900,000. This went on translating marking schemes and producing Irish exams.

Minister Ruairi Quinn’s department also splashed out €106,000 on gaeilge versions of leaflets, application forms and press releases. NAMA, the NTMA and the National Pension Reserve Fund paid out €23,462 for putting annual reports into Irish.

An Post spent €7,179 for Irish versions of State Savings forms and brochures.

Councils were big spenders too, as annual reports and development plans must be translated under the Act.

Kerry County Council has 21 Irish officers who do most of its translation. Read more.

See: The Irish Sun

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