15% increase in translation and interpretation costs for International Protection Office
The International Protection Office in Dublin. The IPO said interpreters were available on request to guarantee 'fair procedures' when a person was making an application for international protection. Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
The cost of translation and interpretation services for applicants for asylum in Ireland totalled more than €7m over the past two years.
The bill for dealing with international protection applicants has risen sharply, with €3.78m paid out last year for translation and interpretation.
That compared to an overall cost of €3.28m for 2023 and represented a year-on-year increase of 15% for the International Protection Office (IPO).
In certain months — mainly the year end — monthly costs rose as high as €606,000 for interpretation, according to figures released under Freedom of Information.
The department of justice said translation costs last year had been €1.9m with a further €1.8m paid for interpretation.
In 2023, the translation bill was €2.03m while €1.2 m was paid for interpretation.
The department said language services had been provided in eighty different languages over the course of last year.
That was also a steep rise from 2023 when translation or interpretation was needed for fifty-seven international languages. The most commonly required translators last year were for Arabic, Georgian, French, Pashto (primarily spoken in Pakistan and Afghanistan), and Spanish.
Other languages in which interpretation services were needed included Hebrew, Finnish, Catalan, and Icelandic.
Demand for language translation in 2023 was broadly similar with the top five listed as Georgian, Arabic, Pashto, French, and Somali.
The IPO said its practice was that an interpreter would always be made available even if the person has a high level of fluency in English.
An information note said: “We appreciate that there could be some word or expression used by the interviewer during the interview that the applicant would not understand.
“Equally, there could be a word or expression in their original language that the applicant might want to use during the interview, for which they might need to consult an interpreter.”
The IPO said interpreters were available on request to guarantee “fair procedures” when a person was making an application for international protection.
