Irish in a class of its own, says Revenue

TAX forms have arrived into letter boxes in five languages — but not as Gaeilge.

According to the Revenue Commissioners, Irish-language leaflets are in a class of their own.

The PAYE online information leaflet was delivered around the country translated into languages such as Polish, Lithuanian and Chinese but not Irish.

Revenue Commissioners information officer Denis Harkin said that this did not mean that the country’s first language had been downgraded. Instead, he said, it has a status all of its own.

He explained that an Irish version was printed but was only sent to people who specifically ask for it.

“All other languages, including English, are on another leaflet. We deal with Irish cases separately so anyone who opts to do their business through Irish will automatically be sent an Irish version of the leaflet.”

He said adding an Irish column to the more widely circulated form would make the leaflets “too cluttered”.

He said Irish speakers can get the forms and information on Revenue’s website, and that “several thousand” people dealt with their tax affairs entirely through their native tongue. The same luxury is afforded to people from 11 different countries who can download information in Russian, French, Czech, Slovak or Chinese from www.revenue.ie.