The investigation by the Coimisineir Teanga  - the Language Commissioner - into the appointment of the district justice to a Gaeltacht area in Donegal followed a complaint by Conradh na Gaeilge.

The Language Commissioner's office provides advice to the public about language rights, and to public bodies about their obligations under the 2003 Official Languages Act, and investigates complaints of alleged breaches of the legislation.

The 1924 Courts of Justice Act states that a judge assigned to a district where Irish is in general use must have sufficient knowledge of the language to obviate the need for an interpreter "so far as may be practicable, having regard to all relevant circumstances".

Investigating the judge's appointment to the Donegal Gaeltacht, the commissioner's office sought a report from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, as well as access to the relevant files. However, a certificate was issued by the secretary general to the Government covering most of the relevant records.

Under the Official Languages Act, such a certificate effectively denies access to specified information. Sean Ó Cuirreáin, Coimisineir Teanga, said he had to discontinue the investigation as a result. He said this was the first instance on record where the Government had impeded the work of a state ombudsman.

The case of the judge was one of 10 cases involving alleged breaches of the Official Languages Act which were highlighted by Mr O Cuirreain at the launch of his annual report in Galway.

Other cases included:

• the failure by the Department of Education and Science to provide syllabuses in Irish for post-primary subjects;
• use by the State Examinations Commission of an English language marking scheme to mark exam papers completed in Irish;
• failure by Bus Éireann to print school bus tickets bilingually;
• publication by the Health Service Executive of public health dental services in English only for a Gaeltacht school;
• the inability of the Garda Síochána's administrative system for issuing traffic fines and penalty points to use Irish;
• publication of a Green Paper on pensions in English only by the Department of Social and Family Affairs;
• publication of a booklet in English only by the National Disability Authority;
• failure by Fingal County Council to reply in Irish to an electronic communication sent in Irish;
• confirmation that the Houses of the Oireachtas were not in breach of the Official Languages Act in not providing Irish language versions of Bills, as this currently applies only to publication of Acts.

The full Irish Language Commissioner's 2007 report can be viewed at www.coimisineir.ie (Source: Irish Times)