£23,707 lost in translation

TENS of thousands of pounds were spent by the Courts Service on translators in Londonderry last year.

By The Newsroom

Published 17th May 2010, 17:28 BST

Updated 18th May 2010, 14:18 BST

Interpreter costs in the criminal court for the year came to 23,707. And over the last two years interpreter costs in non-criminal cases here came to 3,616 in total. This ranged across a number of areas including the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) civil, family, coroners and other.

The cost of translators in Londonderry was one of the lowest in Northern Ireland.

Justice Minister David Forde revealed that prior to 2008/9 court interpreter services in the criminal courts were delivered through the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI).

Funding for 2008/9 and 2009/10 was the shared responsibility of the Public Prosecution Service, the then Northern Ireland Court Service and the NIO.

Northern Ireland NIO