Madam, – We welcome and endorse the comments of Garda Tom O’Sullivan about interpreters (Home News, Page 7, April 30th). We agree that interpreters should be comprehensively vetted for criminal records.
Detained persons and defendants who are not proficient in English have the right under law to an interpreter. Similarly, if a witness is not proficient in English, an interpreter will be required. The current system whereby anyone who speaks English and a foreign language can act as an interpreter in Garda stations and the courts is unethical and unsafe.
Several million euro are being spent every year to provide an interpreting service that is unregulated and where there is no monitoring, testing or quality assurance.
Most interpreters currently called to interpret at Garda stations have received no training. Many have not even been interviewed to establish their credentials for the job. Some cannot even read English. Their interpreting skills have not been tested. The ability to speak English and another language is no guarantee of competent interpreting. We have even come across cases where interpreters cannot read English.
Last year a Government report recommended that a register of accredited interpreters be put in place. We welcome this recommendation and look forward to its implementation.
We believe that the first step to ensure quality is to recruit qualified interpreters. There are qualified interpreters in the country, many of whom are members of our association, but they are not given priority for interpreting assignments in the courts and Garda stations. – Yours, etc,