On behalf of the Minister for justice, I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is important to state that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has no role in individual court proceedings, nor can he intervene in operational matters that fall under the remit of courts, including the processes by which translation and interpretation services are provided. Management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and the Constitution. In relation to introducing State-accredited training, the Minister is advised that the Courts Service, like many other public service bodies, has a contract for interpretation services under the interpretation service procurement framework set up by the Office of Government Procurement. The Minister is further advised that this contract requires the contracted company to ensure that interpreters possess the qualifications and competence appropriate to the tasks for which they are employed. The contract agreed under the central procurement framework sets the standards for interpreters supplied to the Courts Service. Ireland has opted into EU Directive 2010/64/EU. Article 5 states that Member States are required to take concrete measures to ensure the quality of the interpretation and translation services. However, the article does not mandate member states to establish a register. The Minister has been advised that there are no plans at present to create such a register. Where the court of its own motion, or on application by any of the parties to the hearing, considers that the interpretation being provided is not of such a quality as to ensure that the person before it can effectively exercise his or her right to a fair trial, it may direct that the interpreter be replaced. The Minister has been advised by the Courts Service that on the rare occasion where an issue arises, defendants, with their legal representatives, can and do have the entitlement to inform the court that a defendant cannot follow proceedings because of the quality of interpretation. Where this arises, proceedings are adjourned until another interpreter is found. The right to fair procedures is a central tenet of our criminal justice system. Ireland opted into the EU directive on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings and it was subsequently transposed into Irish law. This was done via two statutory instruments, one relating to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, which relates to the arrangements to be put in place by the Courts Service in respect of the conduct of court proceedings and the second which relates to interpretation and translation for persons in custody in Garda Síochána stations.

Sentiment score: 0.21

The Deputy makes his point very well in a very sound, fair and reasonable fashion but I remind him that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has no role in individual court proceedings. As I have previously noted, Article 5 of EU Directive 2010/64/EU requires member states to take concrete measures to ensure the quality of interpretation and translation services. A 2018 European Commission report on the implementation of the directive did not flag any issues of concern regarding Ireland’s approach to same and no open infringement proceedings are under way in this regard. All procurement by the Courts Service is governed by EU directives on procurement that set out rules and procedures designed to ensure equal treatment, mutual recognition, proportionality and transparency in the awarding of public contracts. Procurement decisions must in all respects be fair and equitable and ensure value for money. The Courts Service must be able to justify decisions made and actions taken. In all cases, the Office of Government Procurement public procurement guidelines for goods and services, which set out the rules and best practice on the various stages of the procurement process, must be followed by all staff. I reiterate that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has no role in individual court proceedings, including the processes by which translation and interpretation services are provided. On my behalf and that of the Minister, I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter.

Sentiment score: 0.38