HL Deb 04 February 1999 vol 596 c235WA
Lord Selkirk of Douglas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they plan to make arrangements for the Scottish Parliament to be bilingual; and what would be the estimated costs. [HL635]

Lord Sewel

The all-party Consultative Steering Group which is chaired by my honourable friend the Minister of State and which has been charged with making recommendations on how the Parliament might operate, considered the issue of Gaelic in its report to the Secretary of State,Shaping Scotland's Parliament. The group recommended that the normal working language of the Parliament should be English but that members wishing to make a speech in Gaelic should give prior notice so that arrangements could be made for interpreting facilities. Speeches made in Gaelic will be published in the Official Report in the original Gaelic, with an English translation. It is also proposed to produce public information material in Gaelic, as well as in other non-English languages spoken in Scotland.

Options for the provision of this service are currently being examined. Cost estimates are not yet available.