67. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total expenditure by her Department and agencies on translation and interpretation services in each of the past five years. [62941/26]

70. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the five most requested languages for translation and interpretation services in her Department in each of the past five years. [62975/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 67 and 70 together.

My Department engages external translation and interpretation services in line with national and EU procurement rules when it is clear this adds to the wide range of skills already available in the Department. Given its international remit, the number of individual requests and associated languages vary throughout the time period specified by the Deputy and would be contingent on the programme of work on hand.

The procurement of these services augments the capacity of the Department in effectively delivering high level visits, conferences and events. They also support public outreach efforts, ensuring materials produced are inclusive and accessible, having regard to the Official Languages Act, 2003. Both Irish Sign Language and Irish translation services therefore feature frequently throughout the time-frame specified.

The policy of the Department is to operate competitive tendering as standard procedure in order to achieve best value for money. Procurement takes place in the context of Directive 2014/24/EU and supported by Procurement Guidelines published by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP). My Department participates fully in on-going initiatives of the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) focusing especially on achieving procurement savings, including the use of shared framework agreements for the provision of different categories of supplies and services.

The most frequently requested languages for these services during the time period specified for translation services included Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Irish, and Spanish. In relation to interpretation services, Chinese, German, Irish Sign Language, Japanese, and Spanish were among the most frequently requested.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for two Votes - Vote 27 (International Cooperation) and Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs). Overall expenditure under both Votes for translation and interpretation services engaged by my Department for the past five years is set out in the table below.