NALA to present at important Department of Public Expenditure and Reform seminar

This conference is run by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. NALA has been invited to present on Using plain language to enhance service and delivery efficiency. The seminar will be attended by 60 plus public servants and is on Tuesday 17 September. At this seminar, we will launch a short online plain English guide for Quality Customer Service Officers.

Hats off to the Canadian Government

Plain Language Labelling Initiative We were delighted to see that Leona Aglukkaq, the Canadian Minister of Health, recently announced the launch of the Plain Language Labelling Initiative, which aims to improve the safe use of drugs by making drug labels and safety information easier to read and understand.

I am pleased to announce that our Government will be making plain language a requirement on drug packages in order to help prevent adverse drug reactions, medication errors and protect Canadian patients

NALA sees this as a positive step, one that we hope will be put in place in Ireland as well. Read more about the Labelling Initiative here and about health literacy development in Ireland here.

Minister Burton and Paul Kenny praise our Plain English Mark

The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton TD, today (27 May 2013) officially launched the 2012 Annual Report of the Pensions Ombudsman and a new booklet developed by the Pensions Ombudsman on Dispute Resolutions. Both Minister Burton and Paul Kenny, Pensions Ombudsman, praised our Plain English Mark. Minister Burton, said that having the Mark made documents 'straightforward and easy to understand.' Paul Kenny commented on the value of using plain English and the Mark in making information easy for more people to understand. You can read the Pensions Ombudsman 2012 report.