Interview: Oireachtas Chief Translator Vivian Uíbh Eachach

AGALLAMH · INTERVIEW: Vivian Uíbh Eachach

Labhraíonn Vivian Uíbh Eachach, An PríomhAistritheoir i Rannóg an Aistriúcháin i dTithe an Oireachtais le Odrán de Bhaldraithe faoin nGaeilge, faoin gCaighdeán Oifigiúil agus faoi thodhchaí na Rannóige. Vivian Uíbh Eachach, Chief Translator in the Oireachtas’s Rannóg an Aistriúcháin, speaks with Odrán Waldron about the Irish language, An Chaighdeán Oifigiúil and the future of the Rannóg.

“Téann stair na seirbhíse aistriúcháin i nDáil Éireann siar go dtí bunú an Stáit agus, go deimhin, níos faide siar fós go dtí an Chéad Dáil,” deireann Uíbh Eachach. “Is é an príomhchuspóir atá ag Rannóg an Aistriúcháin seirbhísí aistriúcháin a chur ar fáil do Thithe an Oireachtais. Toisc gur stát dátheangach í Éire, de réir Bhunreacht na hÉireann, agus gur parlaimint dhátheangach é an tOireachtas, deineadh gach iarracht ó thús an chórais chun a chinntiú go mbeadh na tacaí ar fáil chun go bhféadfadh Tithe an Oireachtais feidhmiú go dátheangach.”

Go bunúsach, sin an cuspóir atá ag an Rannóg agus ceann do na príomhdhualgas atá acu ná Riar na hOibre, páipéar ghnó na dTithe a chur ar fáil gach lá. Is documéid dátheangach é Riar na hOibre agus an cuspóir aige ná go mbeidh daoine in ann gnó na dTithe a dhéanamh trí mheáin an dá theanga oifigiúla.

“Is é an reachtaíocht a phlé agus a rith an phríomhfheidhm atá ag an Oireachtas agus ag teach reachtach ar bith agus dírítear cuid mhór d’acmhainní na Rannóige ar thiontuithe oifigiúla ar an reachtaíocht sin a chur ar fáil,” a deir Uíbh Eachach. “Ó thús an Stáit, mar sin, bhí acmhainní na Rannóige á ndíriú ar an dá ról sin – seirbhís a thabhairt do na Tithe agus aistriúcháin ar an reachtaíocht a chur ar fáil.” “The history of translation goes back to the founding of the State and the Oireachtas and further back than that, going back to the First Dáil,” Uíbh Eachach says. “The main objective of Rannóg an Aistriúcháin is to provide those translation services to the Oireachtas. Ireland is constitutionally a bilingual state and the Oireachtas is a bilingual parliament, so every effort was made from the start to provide the supports in order to make the Houses functionally bilingual.”

This is the primary objective of the Rannóg and one of its main responsibilities is the daily translation of Dáil Standing Orders into Riar na hOibre. The Standing Orders are a bilingual document provided with the aim of allowing representatives to carry out the business of the Houses of the Oireachtas in both of the official languages.

“The main function of the Oireachtas and any legislative body is legislation and a lot of our resources are focussed on translations of that legislation,” Uíbh Eachach says. “From the beginning of the State, Rannóg resources were spent on those two roles, servicing the Houses and translating legislation.”

Chun an tseirbhís sin a chur ar fáil, bhí ar an Rannóg teacht suas le leagan oifigiúil don Ghaeilge, rud nach raibh ann cheana leis an meascán do chanúintí timpeall na tíre agus an teanga faoi chos go hoifigiúil ag Rialtas na Breataine sular bunaíodh Saor Stáit na hÉireann. Deireann Uíbh Eachach: “Bhí ar an Rannóg leagan oifigiúil den Ghaeilge a fhorbairt agus bhí an leagan sin den teanga bunaithe ar na canúintí éagsúla. D’éirigh chomh maith sin leis an Rannóg sa chúram sin gur beartaíodh an leagan oifigiúil sin den Ghaeilge a úsáid sa chóras oideachais agus i ngnóthaí oifigiúla an Stáit agus is mar sin a tháinig ‘An Caighdeán Oifigiúil’ ar an saol.

“Sa phróiseas a cuireadh ar bun chun An Caighdeán Oifigiúil a sholáthar, díríodh ar an gcóras litrithe a shimpliú. Mar shampla, giorraíodh an foirceann -iughadh mar -iú. Glacadh go forleathan leis na hathruithe sin. Réimse mór eile ar díríodh air is ea an córas gramadaí agus socraíodh ar leagan aontaithe de rialacha gramadaí na Gaeilge a cheapadh agus, arís, cuid de na rialacha a bhí ann a shimpliú. Foilsíodh an Caighdeán Oifigiúil sa bhliain 1958 agus tá sé i bhfeidhm ó shin. Sa bhliain 2013, tugadh stádas reachtúil don Chaighdeán Oifigiúil san Acht um Choimisiún Thithe an Oireachtais (Leasú), 2013. Mínítear san Acht sin cad é an Caighdeán Oifigiúil agus cad chuige é. Ina theannta sin, foráiltear san Acht sin gur cóir athbhreithnithe rialta a dhéanamh ar an gCaighdeán Oifigiúil. Deineadh an chéad athbhreithniú reachtúil ó shin agus bunaíodh Coiste Comhairleach, faoi stiúir Éamonn Ó hÓgáin, chun cuidiú leis an Rannóg sa phróiseas sin. Foilsíodh an chéad leagan athbhreithnithe sa bhliain 2016.”

Le linn an ré leictreonach, tá ról na Rannóige aistrithe freisin, bhunaíodar www.acmhainn.ie chun ábhar na Rannóige a chur ar fáil go héasca agus shocraíodar go mbeadh dlíthe le fáil as Gaeilge ar shuíomh an Oireachtais é féin. To provide this service, the Rannóg was forced to come up with an official version of the Irish language, something that had not been done before with the mixture of dialects around the country and the language under official repression by the British Government before the founding of the Irish Free State. Uíbh Eachach says: “We had to develop an official Irish and we did that based on a mixture of the dialects. When that was done, the official version was placed within the education system and official business; it is from there that An Chaighdeán Oifigiúil was born.

“A big focus for An Chaighdeán Oifigiúil was the simplification of spelling. For example, names could often finish with -iughadh and that was simplified to -iú and that development had a wide influence. Another big thing was to put together an official grammatical system that was based on a mixture of the dialects again. In 1958, these rules were officially named An Chaighdeán Oifigiúil and An Chaighdeán has been in place since then. In 2013, we laid out what An Chaighdeán Oifgiúil is and the point of it, when to use it and when to renew it. It is now settled that we should review it every 10 years. We did the first of those reviews and founded a Consultative Committee under the direction of Éamonn Ó hÓgáin to help the Rannóg in that process. We published the first updated version 2016.

In the electronic era, Rannóg’s role has also changed with the founding of www.acmhainn.ie to provide the Rannóg’s materials easily and it was also settled that the translated laws would be made available on the Oireachtas’s website.

AGALLAMH · INTERVIEW

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VIVIAN UÍBH EACHACH

“Tharla forbairt thábhachtach sa bhliain 2003 nuair a ritheadh Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla. Foráladh san Acht sin go bhfoilseofaí an leagan achtaithe d’Acht agus an tiontú oifigiúil ar an Acht go comhuaineach. Cor tábhachtach eile ab ea bunú Choimisiún Thithe an Oireachtais an bhliain dár gcionn, gníomh lenar athraíodh an creat rialaithe agus buiséadaithe le haghaidh Thithe an Oireachtais,” a deir Uíbh Eachach. “Bhí an timpeallacht ina rabhamar ag feidhmiú ag athrú agus bhí dúshláin nua ag baint leis na hathruithe sin ó thaobh modhanna oibre na Rannóige de, go háirithe.

“Nuair a tháinig an meathlú geilleagair, go tobann bhíomar go léir ag feidhmiú i gcomhthéacs a bhí athraithe go hiomlán ón gcomhthéacs a bhí ann roimhe sin. Bhí airgead agus acmhainní gann, agus bhí todhchaí roinnt de na comhlachtaí Stáit i mbaol, fiú amháin. Tréimhse an-dúshlánach ar fad a bhí ann do na comhlachtaí Stáit agus b’éigean don Rannóg, mar shampla, pleananna a chur le chéile chun go mbeadh bunleibhéal íosta seirbhíse ar fáil. Buíochas le Dia, tá deireadh leis an tréimhse éigeandála sin anois agus tá acmhainní ar fáil athuair.”

I 2018, rinne an comhlacht PwC tuarascáil don Rannóg faoi na seribhísí a bhí á gcur ar fáil acu. Bhí athrú tagtha ar líon na seirbhísí agus fiú amháin ar an gcineál seirbhíse a bhí á gcur ar fáil ag an am. Leis an tuarascáil sin, bhíodar in ann learscáil do na seribhísí a leagaint amach agus a fheiscint. Deir Uíbh Eachach gur tháining dhá rud chun cinn as sin: an chéad cheann ná go raibh riaráiste tar éis fáis maidir le tionscadal oifigiúila a chur ar fáil de dheasca easpa acmhainne. Bhí timpeall 500 dlíth le haistriú ag an Rannóg, agus is as seo a tháinig Rannóg 2024, an stráitéis chun todhchaí na Rannóige a shocrú a d’fhoilsidh an Rannóg i 2019. “Things developed in 2003 when Acht na dTeangach Ofigiúila was published. In that Act, it was decreed that the official translation of an Act should be provided at the same time as its publication. Another important step was the founding of the Oireachtas Commission the next year, which changed the shape of the Oireachtas and budgets for the Houses,” Uíbh Eachach says. “The environment in which we were working was changing, and we had a lot of challenges to the way that we did our work.

“When the recession came, we were quickly learning in a completely different context. Money and resources were scarce, and the future of many State bodies was under threat. Those State companies went into a very challenging period and Rannóg had to put together development plans to secure a base level of services we could provide. Thankfully, we have a bit more control over the economy now and resources are available again.”

In 2018, PwC performed a report into the services being provided by the Rannóg. There had been a change in both the number of services and the services themselves. With the report, the Rannóg was able to map out the services it was then providing. Uíbh Eachach says that the biggest takeaway from the two main findings of the report was that a massive backlog of official projects had been allowed to grow. There were around 500 laws that required translation into Irish and it was from this backlog that Rannóg 2024, a five-year strategy, was published in 2019.

“Bhí ar an Rannóg leagan oifigiúil den Ghaeilge a fhorbairt agus bhí an leagan sin den teanga bunaithe ar na canúintí éagsúla. D’éirigh chomh maith sin leis an Rannóg sa chúram sin gur beartaíodh an leagan oifigiúil sin den Ghaeilge a úsáid sa chóras oideachais agus i ngnóthaí oifigiúla an Stáit agus is mar sin a tháinig ‘An Caighdeán Oifigiúil’ ar an saol.”

“An príomhchuspóir atá le Rannóg 2024 ná deireadh a chur leis an riaráiste agus leis na cúiseanna a bhí leis an riaráiste,” a deir Uíbh Eachach. “I rith na gcúig bliana atá i gceist sa straitéis sin, táimid ag iarraidh a chinntiú go gcuirfear deireadh leis an riaráiste agus go mbeimid ag soláthar tiontuithe oifigiúla ar na hAchtanna ar bhonn tráthúil. Ar an tslí sin, ní bheidh aon riaráiste nua ag fás agus ag cur leis an riaráiste a bhí ann. Agus an plean á réiteach, d’fhéachamar go géar ar na hacmhainní a bheadh ag teastáil chun na cuspóirí sin a bhaint amach – idir acmhainní inmheánacha agus tacaí seachtracha.”

Ceann do na dúshláin ba mhó atá os comhair na Rannóige ná cúrsaí earcaíochta: “Bíonn sé deacair go leor teacht ar dhaoine ar an leibhéal atá uainn. Is dúshlán leanúnach é sin. Bímid ag lorg daoine a bhfuil Gaeilge an-mhaith agus Béarla an-mhaith acu agus tuiscint mhaith acu ar chúrsaí gramadaí. Ní bhíonn sé éasca teacht ar dhaoine a bhfuil na scileanna sin acu, faraor. Bíonn comórtais earcaíochta ar siúl againn go rialta ach is dúshlán é teacht ar an líon daoine atá uainn. Feachtas earcaíochta eile atá ar siúl ag an Rannóg is ea ateangairí a cheapadh le haghaidh na seirbhíse ateangaireachta a chuireann an Rannóg ar fáil do na Tithe. Faoi láthair, déanann na haistritheoirí an dá chúram – an t-aistriúchán agus an ateangaireacht – ach tá sé i gceist na cúraimí sin a dheighilt óna chéile agus meitheal ateangairí a earcú le haghaidh na hateangaireachta.”

Ceann de na réimsí nua freagrachta atá ar an Rannóg is ea bainistiú a dhéanamh ar Straitéis na Gaeilge san Oireachtas –straitéis chun cur leis an dátheangachas san eagraíocht – agus ar an Scéim Teanga, a bhfuil dualgas reachtúil ar an Oireachtas ina leith.

“Tá ar gach comhlacht Stáit atá ina chomhlacht ainmnithe de réir Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla scéim teanga a bheith acu agus is comhlacht ainmnithe de réir an Achta Seirbhís Thithe an Oireachtais,” a deireann Uíbh Eachach. “Baineann oibleagáid reachtúil leis na gealltanais sa Scéim Teanga ach dírítear leis an Straitéis ar chuspóirí breise a bhaint amach. Is é an mórchuspóir atá leis an Straitéis ná an dátheangachas a chur chun cinn sa tSeirbhís d’fhonn í a fhorbairt ina heagraíocht a fheidhmíonn go dátheangach. Is próiseas é sin a thógfaidh tamall ach tá tús maith déanta againn.” “The main objective of Rannóg 2024 is to end the backlog and the reasons for the backlog,” Uíbh Eachach says. “In those five years, we will try to ensure that we are supplying resources to the official projects in a timely manner, that an Act will be translated and available quickly after it is written. That way, there won’t be a new backlog growing. We looked at the resources needed for this and many will be needed, from internal resources to external supports.”

One of the biggest challenges facing the Rannóg is recruitment: “It is hard to get staff on the level required. It is a continuous challenge, obviously we are looking for people with both Irish and English of a high spoken level, but also of a high grammatical level. Unfortunately, it is not very easy to come upon these people at the minute. We have constant recruitment drives and will have more, but it is a challenge to find these people. Another recruitment campaign we have is for the interpretation service Rannóg provides. At the minute, the translators do both translating and interpreting and it is our plan to separate those two responsibilities and to put together a working group of interpreters.”

New responsibilities have been bestowed upon the Rannóg at the same time, with it now being tasked with the management of a bilingual strategy. Under the Coimisinéir Teanga, public bodies are now required to have their own bilingual strategies in place. The Rannóg is responsible for the management and development of the Oireachtas’s scheme.

“Every State body that is named in Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla has to have a language scheme,” Uíbh Eachach says. “The commitments in the Language Scheme have a statutory obligation but the Strategy aims to achieve additional objectives. The aim we have laid out in our strategy is that we will be working towards becoming a functional bilingual organisation, that is an organisation that is able to operate in either language in all the services we provide. That is a process that will take time, but the organisation has been done and we have made a good start.” AGALLAMH · INTERVIEW

New wellbeing metrics for Ireland

Under the A Better Quality of Life for All mission in the 2020 Programme for Government (PfG), the coalition parties acknowledged a “need to supplement our existing economic measurements”.

Existing metrics of economic performance fail to consider damage to the environment, voluntary work, equality of opportunity, distribution of wealth and income while exclusively valuing public expenditure “on the basis of the inputs used, not the outcomes achieved”.

Subsequently, the Government has committed to developing a set of indicators to broaden the context for policy making, including “a set of wellbeing indices to create a well-rounded, holistic view of how our society is faring” and “a balanced scorecard for different areas of public policy”. Rather than replace existing economic tools, these indices are intended to complement them and inform the development of spending reforms and wider government budgeting.

In February 2021, the Government announced an agreed approach to the development of an overarching Wellbeing Framework for Ireland. The Framework is intended to create a “well-rounded, holistic view of how our society is performing, alongside the existing economic measurement tools” and will inform policymaking across government. Led by the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, alongside a working group incorporating a range of government departments, the Central Statistics Office and the National Economic and Social Council, the initial phase will be completed in summer 2021 with overall the development anticipated to progress over several years.

As well as furthering the findings of Wellbeing and the Measurement of Broader Living Standards in Ireland, a Department of Finance research paper, the development of Ireland’s Well-being Framework will utilise the OECD Framework for Measuring Well-being and Progress an exemplar.

Examining the evolution of wellbeing measurements internationally and investigating options for introducing a wellbeing measurement in Ireland, Wellbeing and the Measurement of Broader Living Standards in Ireland recognises that economic statistics alone cannot “accurately reflect the wellbeing of a population”.

As such, to measure economic performance, countries such as New Zealand, the UK, the Netherlands and Canada have produced wellbeing indicators that are used in tandem with macroeconomic statistics.

The spectrum of wellbeing measures used elsewhere reflect “aggregate, distributional, subjective, and objective dimensions of society”. The three options outlined for monitoring Irish wellbeing in the Department of Finance document are: a dashboard of indicators; a survey; or a composite indicator of wellbeing. Internationally, a dashboard has been identified as “likely the best way to achieve a well-rounded and informative wellbeing measure”.

The Department of Finance paper on wellbeing measurement concludes: “A national measurement of wellbeing has the potential to improve interdepartmental cooperation and cohesion, and to further the whole-of-government agenda to improve living standards for Irish residents and citizens. Wellbeing could become an entrenched consideration at all levels of public decision making.”

The OECD Wellbeing Dashboard has 11 dimensions:

1. Income and wealth 2. Housing 3. Work and job quality 4. Health 5. Knowledge and skills 6. Environmental quality 7. Subjective wellbeing 8. Safety 9. Work-life balance 10. Social connections 11. Civic engagement

TRADE UNION DESK

NERI economist Paul Goldrick-Kelly summarises some key findings from the Nevin Economic Research Institute’s (NERI) co-authored paper examining the effects of automation and the green transition on employment between 2008 and 2019.

In a forthcoming paper, Dr Lisa Wilson (NERI), Esmé Sheridan (UCD), Ian Walsh (UCD) and I investigate changes in employment in the Republic of Ireland between the crises of 2008 and our current pandemic crisis which began in early 2020. Specifically, we examine whether two major structural forces, in the form of automation/technological change and the low carbon transition shaped employment developments over the period.

Automation

Where automation is concerned, the evidence is mixed. Trends in aggregate employment and unemployment between 2007 and 2019 are not consistent with more pessimistic projections of mass unemployment from technological advance. Evidence of labour substitution (replacing workers with machines) is not evident in the data we have for hours worked, which recovered following the crisis period 2008-2012.

However, we have seen an apparent structural shift to increased part-time work and declines in labour market participation. This is driven in large part by declines in labour market participation on the part of men, although men’s participation rates still exceed those for women.

Despite disagreement about the employment effects of automation within the literature, there is a growing consensus that some types of jobs face higher risks than others. Low-risk sectors appeared to fare best through the crisis. However, many sectors identified as high risk, from different theoretical perspectives, showed significant growth as the crisis ended. This suggests that advances in technology and their take up did not necessarily bias employment away from these jobs.

We have clearer evidence regarding skills and routine biased change. Employment in Ireland is increasingly skewed towards higher skilled work, away from low and middle skilled employment. This parallels the trend towards an increasingly educated workforce. Employment also seems to be biased towards non-routine abstract and service work, consistent with theories which predict greater job displacement where work has higher proportions of routine tasks. These routine tasks are more readily automated.

Decarbonisation

The available evidence suggests that a structural shift towards a green economy is more prospective than currently present. Data suggest that the Republic may have begun a process of decoupling economic activity from greenhouse gas emissions, but this largely depends on how one assigns emissions occurring outside of Ireland’s borders. Territorial emissions recorded in the Republic, rather than those attributed to Irish residents abroad (including airlines), or based upon consumption, fell between 2016 and 2019 while output and employment grew. However, emissions reductions have not occurred at necessary rates.

Green employment, as measured by more restrictive industry-based definitions, has grown significantly in Ireland. More expansive occupation or skills-based measures of green jobs would likely show a more significant employment profile. Emissions are sectorally concentrated, 90 per cent of emissions are tied to just over one-fifth of overall employment. Progress regarding emissions reductions is concentrated in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector. While still a significant emitter, with high emissions per person employed, its reductions of more than six million tonnes of CO2 equivalent between 2008 and 2019. Agriculture, forestry and fishing remains the problem sector in territorial emissions terms. Emissions grew by over one million tonnes of CO2 equivalent even as employment fell, increasing emissions per person employed.

Conclusion

The gloomiest predictions of the widespread net employment losses in employment due to automation and green transition processes are not apparent in the data or the prospective literature in the latter case.

However, these processes may affect some sectors and workers more than others. There is considerable scope for significant changes influenced by automation and the green transition is just beginning. While the green economy may be showing signs of growth, with some definitions implying a significant present scope, our current carbon situation and lack of progress suggests that these sectors will also face challenges.

Our analysis suggests that some sectors, such as agriculture, forestry and fishing, face overlapping challenges from technological change and necessary emissions reductions. Further research should be undertaken to assess these sectorally specific transition difficulties and assemble appropriate responses.

At the same time, while these structural transitions may have sector or issue specific implications, they may show significant overlap in risk and difficulties. A common just transition approach incorporating social protection, activation support can ease difficulties faced by workers and their communities. A proactive approach to planning which incorporates workers and their representatives, alongside other civil society groups has also seen success elsewhere.