Vol. 542 No. 4
168 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if Conradh na Gaeilge is receiving block grants from the Government and her Department; if An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha is a beneficiary from such grants; the amount of grant assistance which An Coimisiún has received from 1995 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24705/01]
169 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha is receiving grants from her Department or through Conradh na Gaeilge; if so, the amount of grant assistance which An Coimisiún has received from 1995 to date; if there are accounting procedures in place to oversee the enactment of the grants either by Conradh na Gaeilge or by An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24706/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 169 together.
An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha does not receive funding from my Department. I understand that An Coimisiún comes under the aegis of the Department of Education and Science.
Conradh na Gaeilge is one of eight voluntary Irish language organisations in respect of which funding responsibility was transferred from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands to Foras na Gaeilge, the Irish language agency of An Foras Teanga, the North-South language body, under the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999.
I understand from Foras na Gaeilge that:
(1) the board of Foras na Gaeilge has authorised funding for Conradh na Gaeilge as follows:
2000:Core funding £202,000
Project funding £96,000
2001:Core funding £218,000
Project funding £128,000.
(2) An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha does not receive funding from Foras na Gaeilge, nor does it benefit from the funding provided by An Foras to Conradh na Gaeilge.
