FOI 60-26 - A request for information relating to translation services

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our ref: FOI 60-26

8 September 2026

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 10 August 2026 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:

“I wonder too if you can tell me how much has been spent translating spoken contributions in the Assembly from Irish to English, and vice versa.

Might we be able to get these figures for each of the last five years, and if that's not available, then for the current mandate to date, and the previous one.”

Our response

Following a direction by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) in June 2021, the Interpretation and Translation Service was established in May 2022. The service provides simultaneous interpretation, from Irish to English, during plenary meetings of the Assembly, as well as at certain Committee meetings. Interpretation from English to Irish is not provided. The service’s remit also covers the provision in writing of Members’ contributions in Irish and English for inclusion in the Official Reports of the Assembly’s plenary meetings and for certain Committee meetings. As well as completing miscellaneous translation work, the service contributes to the English language output of the Office of the Official Report.

The staffing costs for the service from May 2022 to 31 July 2026 are broken down as follows:

Prior to May 2022, before simultaneous interpretation was introduced in the Assembly, reduced Irish language services were provided, alongside other substantive duties, by a member of staff in the Office of the Official Report. It is not possible to give an exact figure for expenditure in the previous mandate.

Further Information

You may request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission. If you wish to request such a review, please write to me at the above address. If, after that review, you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Assembly Commission has handled your request for information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised.

Yours sincerely,

INFORMATION STANDARDS