Local councils are facing huge bills for translation and printing services associated with the provisions of the Official Languages Act.
Under the Act, which was enacted in July 2003, documents aimed at the public will have to be translated into Irish.
Local authorities will have to draw up their own work plan in accordance with the guidelines on the development of services through the medium of Irish.
However, there is already concern about printing and translation costs.
Privately, officials in some local authorities in non-Gaeltacht areas are scathing about the extra workload, delay and costs involved in translating documents which they say will barely be read in English, let alone Irish.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment and Local Government said no extra funding was being allocated and councils will have to find the resources for the costs themselves.
The Department is, however, examining the implications for local authorities of having to provide bilingual documents.
It is hoped many local authorities will be able to translate the documents from within their own staff, and the regulations will be phased in, on a negotiated basis, a spokesperson for Mr Ó Cuív , the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht affairs, said.
County councils can expect to pay translation costs of between €100 and €150 per thousand words. Printing costs will double for documents such as county development plans, annual reports, and road improvement notices.
Kerry County Manager Mr Martin Nolan has already warned that the council's Irish office will be in need of funding to implement the Act.
Some €100,000 has been set aside - half the council's arts budget - this year for the promotion of Irish in the county which has two Gaeltacht areas.
The main objective of the Official Languages Act is to provide a wider range of services through Irish, at a higher standard, from the public service.
A language commissioner, Mr Seán Ó Cuirreáin, deputy head of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, was nominated by the Government as An Coimisinéir Teanga (the Language Commissioner), and he will monitor its implementation.