asked the Minister for the Gaeltacht whether he is aware that in respect of the South Kerry area an unduly high standard is being applied in the assessment of the knowledge of Irish of applicants for Gaeltacht housing grants, and, if so, if he will have the position reviewed.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Kerry Gaeltacht Housing Grants.
Aire na Gaeltachta (Pádraig Mac Loingsigh)
Ní heol domsa caighdeán Gaeilge ró-ard a bheith á iarraidh, i gCondae Chiarraí, Theas, ar iarrthóirí ar dheontais tithe Gaeltachta. Tá an caighdeán leagtha síos in alt 4 d'Acht na dTithe (Gaeltacht) (Leasú), 1934, sé sin, "An Ghaeilge a bheith mar theanga theaghlaigh ag an líon tí de gnáth". Más eol don Teachta aon chás inar comhlíonadh an coinníoll sin agus gur diúltaíodh an deontas, ba mhaith liom eolas d'fháil uaidh ina thaobh.
On a point of order. Is it customary, when a question is asked in English, that the Minister should answer in Irish? What happens if the Deputy has not a knowledge of Irish? I raise this question as a matter of self-defence.
He is the Minister for the Gaeltacht.
Surely English is the second official language?
Irish is the first.
Surely a Deputy is entitled to have the answer in English?
Is the Minister aware that applicants for Gaeltacht housing grants in South Kerry have been deprived of the concession simply because the inspector reported that every member of the household should be an Irish speaker? Is he further aware that that rigid test was not applied in the past? I would like to know if that inspector received instructions to deprive these people of grants. seeing that similar applications succeeded in the past? Is it as a result of instructions received from the Government? Is it a matter of policy or is it as a result of this credit squeeze?
Pádraig Mac Loingsigh
In deference to the Deputy, I shall now commit him to the tender mercies of the antagonists of bilingualism, Deputies Cunningham, Bartley and Blaney. No such instructions were issued to any inspector from my Department. The standard is laid down in Section 4 of the Gaeltacht Housing (Amendment) Act, 1934. It has been the same ever since, and for the Deputy's information I want to tell him that the number of applications received for County Kerry from the 1st April, 1955, to the 31st October, 1956, that is 18 months, was 442. The number granted was 348. The number rejected on the grounds that Irish was not substantially used in the household or was not the language of the household was 70 and the number rejected for other reasons was 76.