The media were "exaggerating" the cost of providing services for Irish speakers under the Official Languages Act, the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Éamon Ó Cuív, said yesterday in Dublin.
Speaking in Irish, Mr Ó Cuív said the question of cost never arose when services were provided to English speakers; they were simply regarded as services. He would love to provide many of the services in Irish which were being mentioned in the media. However, he recognised that the Act was "graduated" and he intended to move "nice and sensibly".
Mr Ó Cuív was speaking at the launch of two Irish-language packs from Microsoft: Windows XP and Office 2003. The Minister said: "Under the Official Languages Act we made a commitment to ensure better availability and higher standards of public service through Irish. This initiative will aid that endeavour immeasurably making it easier for our public servants to work through Irish."