Minister Howlin accepts petition calling for a Plain English Policy for Ireland

NALA welcomes Minister Howlin’s acceptance of a petition by Labour Youth calling for the introduction of a Plain English policy for Ireland. The Minister confirmed his support Saturday 30 June in Kilkenny. He is pictured here with Maureen Bassett, NALA and Deirdre Hosford, Labour Youth.

Examples of NALA plain English edited documents in May and June 2012

Our editing service deals with all kinds of documents, forms and websites. Examples of recently edited documents are:

• The Digital Switchover Leaflet for the Department of Communications Energy and Natural Resources
• The Medical Card and GP Visit Card Application Form for the Department of Health
• The Plain English Summary of the Draft Report on Symphysiotomy by Dr Oonagh Walsh, for the  Department of Health

The Central Bank’s commitment to plain English

On 19 June The Central Bank reported on its review and inspection of how banks and insurance firms are implementing their revised Consumer Protection Code. The review found that most firms are well managed. It also identified areas for further improvement including ‘providing clear, accurate, up to date information to consumers, that is, written in plain English.’

The review identified examples of best practice ‘including the training of staff in communicating clearly and plainly with consumers and the employing of third party experts to review and edit written materials where in-house expertise is not available.’

You can download The Central Bank’s guide for consumers which explains the revised Consumer Protection Code at www.centralbank.ie/consumer/info.