One councillor has described the use of taxpayers' money to develop the minority language as "absolutely ridiculous" at a time when the council is struggling with its budgets for essential services.

Inverness councillor Jim Crawford was stunned to learn the council is advertising for "a senior translation officer" for Gaelic, who will earn a salary of up to £33,474 a year – although the lion's share will come from Bord na Gaidhlig, another organisation funded by the public purse.

The officer will translate committee minutes, policies, plans and signposts into Gaelic.

The move follows controversy surrounding the council's Gaelic team earlier this year over the appointment of Donald McNeill in May to the post of Gaelic development manager.

He has a starting salary of £43,000, rising to £46,000, but had received an undisclosed voluntary severance package from his former public sector employers Highlands and Islands Enterprise, where he was senior transport policy manager until April's restructuring of the agency.

That had come hard on the heels of a major row after the Highland News revealed the council had hired Stuart Black as its £100,000-a-year director of planning and that he had accepted a £138,000 voluntary severance package from HIE six days after he was included on the short list for the plum council post.

The council's Gaelic team also includes a Gaelic development officer in Portree and there are plans to appoint a translator to assist the senior translation officer post currently being advertised, and also hire freelance translators.

The council failed to reveal to the HN what the assistant's salary will be.

But the council stated this week that the three-year funding package for staff would see public-funded agency Bord na Gadhlig paying for an average of 70 per cent of the costs.

Furious Independent Highland councillor Jim Crawford, who represents Inverness South, said: "It's absolutely ridiculous to have Gaelic translators at a time when we are running a £20 million deficit in the Highland region.

"Gaelic has been imposed on us. Ninety nine percent of the population in the Highlands can't speak Gaelic and there are probably only one or two per cent that can read it."

He added: "There are even public notices in Gaelic for places like Milton of Leys. This promotion of Gaelic is an absolute waste of money. If people want to learn Gaelic they can do a course, they don't have to have the language thrust upon them.

"It's total nonsense to spend money on this when we have just had to close a shelter for the homeless."

However, Gaelic manager Mr McNeill fiercely defended the new post. He said: "The whole point of this is raising the profile of a language. It's not necessarily providing stuff for Gaelic speakers but letting the general public know about their heritage.

"There won't be substantial demand for the translation service initially but it will increase people's awareness of Gaelic. They need to understand what it is and see what is in front of them."

He added that the translation officers, who would be partly funded by the council and partly by Board na Gaidhlig, would work for other local authorities or bodies such as UHI as well as the council.

Mr McNeill insisted that the money for these salaries was well spent as, if Gaelic was not promoted, then the language would continue its downward decline and become "some sort of museum piece".

When questioned about the salary paid to the translator, the council's Gaelic Committee chairman Hamish Fraser responded: "There won't be a Gaelic language in the Highlands if we don't do something about it. We have to give the language equal respect to English because of The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act.

"We have a lot of work to do for the implementation of the Gaelic Language Development Plan over the next four years."

He added that all the members of the Gaelic development team would "earn their money" and would be no less hard working than any other council worker.

Mr Fraser concluded: "You also have to remember that the Gaelic team covers the whole of the Highland area whereas other members of staff cover just one area."

dennier_c@spp-group.com

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