Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 19 May 1992

Vol. 419 No. 9

Adjournment Debate. - Coláiste Pheig Sayers (Kerry).

Mr. Deenihan

I have been endeavouring for a number of weeks to raise the question of granting recognition to the Baile an Lochaigh portion of Coláiste Pheig Sayers in Ballyferriter. It would have been coincidental had it been allowed last week because the Minister, in his wisdom, saw fit to recognise the college on a temporary basis last Thursday or Friday as a result of which there were great celebrations down in Ballyferriter which included bonfires, dances, craic agus féastaí of all kinds until the early hours of the morning. It would have been a major achievement for me if this had been on last week because no doubt the people would have said it was because of my motion on the Adjournment that this came about.

Nevertheless, it gives me the opportunity to thank the Minister for allowing temporary recognition of the Baile an Lochaigh portion of Coláiste Pheig Sayers. I think it was a wise decision. I hope the Minister will see fit to grant full recognition to this college next year.

This college was built on the promise of a previous Minister. The people involved expended a large amount of their own money on the building. They went ahead in good faith only to be told later that no such promise was ever made. I am glad the present Minister has seen fit to recognise the college. The school will be a major boost to the local economy because the large number of students who will travel to the area will stay with local families and that is welcomed by these people. It will also facilitate the students who have to travel a long distance from the Baile an Lochaigh area to Ballyferriter. Now these young people will be facilitated in Baile an Lochaigh.

I would also like to mention here that the management of Coláiste Pheig Sayers in Ballyferriter and now in Baile an Lochaigh must be complimented on their initiative. Recently I visited Dún Chaoin and I was delighted to see these very same people restoring the house of Peig Sayers, the very house she first occupied when she came off the Great Blasket Island. I was most impressed by this initiative. The house will be restored and furnished as it was in Peig Sayers's time. These people are making a major contribution to the local economy and to the Irish language. In the end it is the Irish language, the students who visit Baile an Lochaigh and Ballyferriter and the people of the area who will be the winners.

I thank the Minister and ask him to monitor and evaluate the progress of this college over the summer and, if possible, grant it full recognition in 1993.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Aylward)

I am happy that the Deputy has raised this matter as it affords me an opportunity to clarify the position in relation both to this particular case and to the general policy in relation to the granting of recognition to Irish language summer colleges by my Department for the purposes of receiving grants in respect of courses provided.

First, let me say that after careful reconsideration of the application made by Coláiste Pheig Sayers, I have agreed to grant temporary recognition to the classes which will be held in Baile an Lochaigh this summer, subject to a number of conditions; these conditions include a specific requirement that the operation of classes in Baile an Lochaigh will not interfere in any way with any other Irish language summer college in the area, and also that my Department's regulations governing the scheme under which grants are paid to Irish language summer colleges will be fully complied with in all respects. The college authorities have been advised accordingly.

In administering the scheme under which grants are paid in respect of recognised Irish language courses, especially in relation to the establishment of new summer colleges or the extension of existing summer colleges into new areas, my Department must take account of the position of Irish summer colleges already operating in those areas. It would not be in the interests of the colleges, or of the people of the Gaeltacht areas in which they operate, many of whom derive great economic benefit from the operation of the colleges, if my Department did not seek to regulate the development of the scheme. For this reason, it is the policy of my Department that recognition will not be given to the establishment of new Irish language summer colleges in cases where it is considered that there is already adequate provision.

In the case of the initial application from the authorities of Coláiste Pheig Sayers to establish a new Irish summer college in Baile an Lochaigh, it was considered that the area in question was adequately served by Irish colleges already, and in accordance with the general policy, the application was refused. I might add that this decision was taken following careful examination within my Department, and also consultation with Roinn na Gaeltachta.

Following a number of representations from the locality, I asked for this case to be reconsidered within my Department, and following the recommendations made to me, I have already said, agreed to grant temporary recognition to the classes in Baile an Lochaigh this summer. My Department will be carefully scrutinising the operation of these classes to ensure that the conditions I have attached to the temporary recognition will be fully complied with, and the case will be fully reviewed in November 1992 in the light of experience during the summer, before any decision is taken as to future recognition of classes in Baile an Lochaigh.