Official Languages Act
TU Dublin has legal responsibilities under the Official Languages Act. The primary objective of the Act is to ensure the improved provision of public services through the Irish language and to normalise giving an active choice to citizens to use their preferred official language – the Irish language or English. As a public body, TU Dublin must ensure the following:
- all signage, temporary or permanent, conveying information must be fully bilingual with the Irish language text appearing first
- all stationery must be fully bilingual with the Irish language text appearing first
- all recorded oral announcements from in-house services must be fully bilingual (such as telephone voicemail messages or greetings when out of the office – staff members are not obliged to have their own personal voicemail messages be bilingual)
- all communications are replied to, in writing or by email, in the official language in which the communication was received
- any information provided to the public in general, through the post or electronically, will be fully bilingual
- certain documents be published simultaneously in both official languages namely public policy proposals, annual reports, financial statements or audited accounts, and strategy statements.
If you require assistance with translations or pronunciation please email gaeilge@tudublin.ie.
There is a statutory obligation on TU Dublin to make specific provisions for the delivery of bilingual services in a coherent and agreed fashion through a statutory planning framework, known as a ‘scheme’, or as is currently being amended in legislation, to what will be referenced as a ‘standard’. To prepare for the new expected standards we advise the following:
- that all new ICT systems can correctly record the name of a person, address or title in the Irish language i.e. have functionality to record an accent on vowels such Seán Ó Dúill instead of Sean O Duill
- that any new form being devised should be fully bilingual, with the Irish language text appearing first
- that when renewing or altering a logo, that the text should be fully bilingual, with the Irish language text appearing first