All Oireachtas bills and proposed amendments should be bilingual

The Irish Constitution requires that acts of the Oireachtas be available in both Irish and English.

Within this constitutional framework, our politicians have opted to leave the production of the Irish version until the bill has passed all stages, in both Houses, and has been signed by the President. Generally, only bills to amend the Constitution, or which deal with the Gaeltacht, are published bilingually.

The practice in most jurisdictions with two official languages is that all bills, and all proposed amendments, be published bilingually. Not only does this enable contributions to be made to the debate in either language, but the quality of the legislation is improved, as each turn of phrase is open to double inspection.

Front-loading the translation process would involve only marginal costs, and the benefit of better-drafted statutes, as a result of closer and more critical examination of the texts, would improve the functioning of the parliament of our Republic. It is, in short, an example of what bilingualism can do for us in the context of Oireachtas reform.

Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh BL

An Leabharlann Dlí

Na Ceithre Cúirteanna

Baile Átha Cliath 7