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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 31 Jan 2017

Vol. 936 No. 3

Priority Questions

Arts in Education Charter

Niamh Smyth

Ceist:

43. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress on implementing the arts in education charter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4578/17]

I ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to update us on progress on implementing the arts in education charter, and if she will make a statement on same.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I know she has a particular interest in it.

A Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the continued implementation of the arts in education charter and my Department is working closely with the Department of Education and Skills and the Arts Council to deliver the objectives of the charter. The work of the two Departments and the Arts Council in implementing the charter is achieved largely through existing structures such as education centres. Good progress has been made to date in terms of launching Ireland’s first arts in education portal, holding national arts and education days and developing teacher artist partnerships through the education and training centres.

In terms of direct support for the arts, this is primarily a matter for the Arts Council and its ten-year strategy, Making Great Art Work 2016-2025, places specific emphasis on the need to plan and provide for children and young people.  The strategy also commits to working to achieve full implementation of the arts in education charter. Arising from the significant increase of support of €5 million which I secured for the Arts Council as part of budget 2017, I am pleased to say that Arts Council funding in this area for 2017 has, in turn, increased from €3.1 million in 2016 to €3.7 million this year. That is a very clear indication that the Arts Council is prioritising arts participation by young people and children.

In addition to the charter, the Creative Ireland programme, which the Taoiseach and I launched in December, places a special focus on enabling the creative potential of every child. Building on the arts in education charter, this will involve the development of an integrated plan to enable every child in Ireland to access tuition in music, drama, art and coding by 2022. My Department will be working with relevant Departments and other stakeholders over the coming months to develop this plan.

In the 2016 A Programme for a Partnership Government, the Government committed itself to implementing the arts in education charter, and specifically the local arts in education partnership, which as we know goes across departmental strands between the Minister and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton. We need to have both Departments heavily involved in that regard. Does the Minister and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, have any practical plans in place for the implementation of local arts in education partnerships throughout the country?

Yes, it is in the programme for Government. Also, a key priority in 2017 will be the advancement of the Creative Ireland programme, in particular pillar one, which is enabling the creative potential of every child element. A key feature will be the launch of "Creative Children", which will be an integrated implementation plan, and the creative schools programme in September. My Department is working very closely with the Department of Education and Skills to deliver that programme. One of the key objectives of Creative Ireland is that by 2022, every child in Ireland will have access to tuition and participation in art, music, drama and coding. There will be a cross-departmental approach to this involving my Department, the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the Arts Council and the Heritage Council. The Ministers, Deputy Bruton and Deputy Zappone, are very support of this initiative.

I thank the Minister. Is that a separate scheme with regard to a schools programme or one that will be run in parallel to the local arts in education partnerships? Has that idea been scrapped? Is this a new one in place of that?

Regarding the local arts in education partnership, the Arts Council has got additional funding and it is now taking the lead in rolling out the actions in the arts in education charter. That came about as a result of that charter. It was a very useful pilot in Monaghan, and the Deputy is very familiar with it, which highlighted the benefits of working together. However, having succeeded in getting the significant additional resources for the Arts Council, it is clear that the best way to deliver the charter is for the Arts Council to work with the education centres and all the providers who support teachers across the spectrum. The wider ambition is the Creative Ireland initiative, and I want children to have access to tuition and participation in arts. By 2022, every child in the country should have access to that because we know that when children have access to the arts, it is good for their self-esteem and good for them in the longer term. They are more creative and open-minded, and they perform better at school. There is a big focus on that, and it is very important.

Regional Development Initiatives

Peadar Tóibín

Ceist:

44. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the steps she will take to prevent the emptying of the west of Ireland and the further over concentration of economic activity and population in Dublin. [4579/17]

Per capita growth in the west is one quarter of what it is in Dublin. Unemployment is almost three times higher along the Border, and in the Minister's constituency, than it is in Dublin. Broadband speeds are 36 times higher in parts of Dublin than they are in parts of the regions where they cannot get broadband. The north-west quarter of the country is without rail or motorway service while Limerick and Cork are connected by a single carriageway. How does the Minister expect to reverse the lopsided growth in the State if we do not address the lopsided infrastructural state of the country?

A Programme for a Partnership Government commits to delivering balanced regional development, particularly in the west of Ireland.  Key elements of the Government's strategy to achieve this goal are shared across a number of Departments. However, within my Department, I am progressing a proposal for the development of an Atlantic economic corridor to attract Irish and multinational investment to grow jobs along the western seaboard.

I and my Department officials held a number of meetings towards the end of last year with public bodies and representatives from a group of chambers of commerce from the western region to explore how best to develop the proposal for an Atlantic economic corridor. The chambers group, along with the American Chamber of Commerce, published the initial proposal for the corridor last year.

It is clear from these meetings that there is support for the proposal and I intend to convene a further meeting of the group in the coming weeks to map out the next steps in the process. Any proposals for the development of the western region will be framed in the context of the new national planning framework, which will be prepared this year by the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney. The national planning framework will be a long-term framework for future development and investment, including in the regions and rural Ireland.

Last week, the Government published the first ever comprehensive action plan for rural development, Realising our Rural Potential: Action Plan for Rural Development. This plan will also be of key importance in delivering balanced regional development.  The action plan seeks to make rural Ireland a better place to live, work and conduct business through a series of measures which will be delivered in the short to medium term.  The national planning framework will build on the action plan for rural development, and seek to address longer-term structural issues facing rural Ireland.

It is important to focus on where we are at now. A national spatial plan that was developed in 2002 is defunct now. We have a lopsided, two-tier economy and a damaging over concentration of population and economic activity in the Dublin area. In Dublin, we have rising house prices, rising rents and a commuter belt currently in gridlock in terms of motorways such as the M50, which affects 100,000 people every day. Dublin is over-heating. It has 38% of the population of the State. By contrast, London has about 13% of the population of Britain. It is likely that Dublin is heading towards a population of 50% of the State under current growth patterns, which would mean that this State would become a city state, with one city and the rest of the island depopulating to service that city. That imbalance helps nobody.

The Minister launched a document last week. We wish her well with it but when we consider the gravity and the magnitude of developments spatially in the past year, it will not do anything to address those issues. What projects of significance will the Government get involved in to address that issue?

We are trying to set up the Atlantic economic corridor to bring balance to it.

The reason we are trying to establish it is to compete with Dublin and Cork. The Deputy is correct. At present jobs, population, the price of housing and transport are very serious problems in Dublin. This is why the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has his plan out for consultation. I hope people such as the Deputy, his party and all interested groups in rural Ireland make submissions to the plan because we must balance what is happening in the country. We must look at the skilled workforce and infrastructural assets we have in the regions. The Deputy is quite correct that broadband is a very important issue. This is why the Ministers, Deputies Humphreys and Naughten, are working very strongly and have made major progress on it. It is why we are working with the local authorities to ensure we are ready to roll out broadband. Without broadband we have serious problem in rural Ireland. When I go to public meetings or meet groups, businesses and people who want to invest in the west of Ireland they speak about broadband and it is a big issue. We need everybody working together including all State agencies. This is why I met them recently. This does not involve just one Department as all State agencies must work together.

I would like the Minister of State to address the following question. How much money does he believe is necessary to develop the Atlantic corridor? What is the ballpark figure? We are not asking for a commitment from the Government, but roughly how much money will be necessary?

The document produced last week by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, stated she seeks to accelerate preparation for the development of broadband, not to accelerate the delivery of broadband but just the preparation for it. Of course broadband is massively problematic. The fact is the Minister cannot give me a guarantee today that all houses in rural areas will have broadband by 2022. This is phenomenal.

With regard to IDA Ireland, in recent years it has delivered well over 60% of its jobs in the Dublin and Cork regions. In the plan launched by the Government last week Cork was dropped from the metric, which now includes only Dublin. This is unusual because what was always measured was the area outside of Dublin and Cork. When I debated this with the former Minister with responsibility for enterprise, he always stated we cannot force foreign direct investment into locations outside of Dublin. The reason they go outside is if they can function there. They can function if they can transport, communicate, employ people and have competitive inputs. They do not have this on the basis of €16 million scattered throughout the country.

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is working with local authorities on broadband. The Minister, Deputy Naughten, has responsibility for it, but the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is working with the local authorities and I am supporting her to ensure that when broadband is ready to roll out the local authorities will have their job done.

The Deputy asked me a specific question on what it would cost. He and I know that even the Minister for Finance could not cost what is needed. I will give the Deputy something that is there already with regard to funding for regional development. A key support in the region is the European Regional Development Fund, which has €409 million. It is monitored by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. There are also two separate regional operational programmes managed by the Southern Regional Assembly and the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. European money is going into the region. We need further State funding. We need to identify what we want. We need broadband. In certain areas we need the continuation of major road works. I was in Ennis on Sunday and it is great to see the bypass, which will connect Clare to Galway and continue almost into Mayo. We need further investment and money to put in place the infrastructure. If we expect businesses to come to the western region, if they are to compete with Dublin we need to have the infrastructure.

Rural Development Policy

Éamon Ó Cuív

Ceist:

45. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs further to the recent publication of the Government's plan for regional and rural towns and villages, her plans to publish a plan for the provision of services, jobs and infrastructure for those living outside of such settlements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4315/17]

What the Government published is a plan for towns and villages and particularly towns. My question is when will we have plan for rural Ireland? What RTE reported, no doubt based on briefings from the Minister, is significant. It stated the action plan for rural development contains 270 measures aimed at rejuvenating 600 towns and villages in a three year period, but warned of the fallout for agribusiness. The Minister stated people are needed to revitalise towns. It seems we do not have a plan for rural Ireland. When will we get a plan for rural Ireland?

We launched the Government's action plan for rural development, which includes town, villages and rural areas, in Ballymahon, County Longford last Monday week. The action plan will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives right across Government, which will benefit rural Ireland. Supporting towns and villages is only one element of a much more comprehensive plan.

The action plan contains more than 270 actions to be delivered by a range of Departments, State agencies and other bodies across five thematic areas. The plan will support sustainable communities and enterprise and employment, maximise our rural and recreation potential, foster culture and creativity and improve rural connectivity. The actions set out in the plan will deliver benefits to all rural communities, whether they are located in a town, village, surrounding countryside or on one of our offshore islands.

A key objective of the action plan is to support the creation of employment throughout the regions to ensure people who live in rural areas have increased opportunities for employment locally. The action plan also contains a series of specific measures to enhance local services, including in the areas of health care, transport and rural schools. There are also actions in the plan to strengthen safety and security for people living in rural areas, and to support and empower local communities.

The actions in the plan are only the start of an ongoing process which will be built on continuously to unlock the potential of rural Ireland and improve the lives of people who live and work in rural communities. Focusing on towns and villages is sound regional development. We need vibrant towns and villages to support the environs and some might say the hinterland. This is not just about the towns and villages, it is about parishes, communities and the whole of rural Ireland.

I thank the Minister for the reply. I did a word search on her famous plan. Town is mentioned 75 times, village 35 times, hinterland once, countryside four times and parish is not mentioned at all. Most of us know the geography of rural Ireland is largely based on parishes.

It is interesting there is no mention whatsoever of the provision of sewage in all the little villages which do not have sewage services. There is no mention of bringing water. In fact, there is no mention of water, apart from waterways, with regard to bringing water to those houses still dependent on wells and streams. There is no reference to reversing the vicious cuts affecting the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools. There is no reference to the horse industry, which is a rural industry. It cannot be a town industry. It is vital for the development of jobs in rural Ireland. There is no reference to fibre optic, which is the only type of broadband that suits rural Ireland. There is also no reference to townlands. I ask the Minister to be honest about this. As far as the Government is concerned, it wants to push everybody out of the traditional parishes and settlement patterns of rural Ireland and put them all into towns because it does not believe in rural Ireland.

I certainly do not want to push anybody out of rural areas because I would be the first person to be pushed out. I live in a one-off house in Aghabog, a rural parish in County Monaghan. I am very much aware of the community ethos to which the Deputy referred. Far from seeking to damage our rural parishes and communities, this action plan will support them.

The CLÁR programme is vital for community support. As the Deputy knows, it was his initiative and it certainly is a good programme. It was closed in 2009 and we were delighted to be able to open it up last year. We provided more than €8.5 million under the programme last year with a further €5 million available this year. This is direct investment into parishes and rural areas. We provided more than €7.5 million in rural recreation funding last year and almost €10 million in town and village renewal funding. This is the type of funding that supports some fantastic projects in rural Ireland.

The words of the Minister's plan belie what she has just said to me.

There is no reference to rural housing in the plan, except one, which is to an increased delivery of small housing schemes in towns and villages as an alternative to once-off housing. On top of what the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has clearly indicated, which is that he wants development to take place slowly in a small number of nominated areas, this clearly shows the Government's intent. I understand where the Minister and her colleague are coming from but the Government's intent is that we do not live in the traditional parishes of rural Ireland. St. Thomas', Ballyea and other great hurling strongholds do not exist as far as the Government is concerned or, if they do exist, the quicker we get rid of them the better. The Minister's own plan clearly states that housing in the countryside is not desirable. Does she not accept that is the situation?

I do not accept that. I am very familiar with planning guidelines and there are some areas in which people cannot build one-off houses in rural Ireland, under planning legislation brought introduced in 2008 or 2009. People are sometimes not allowed to build in areas under strong urban pressure but there is an alternative, which is to live in the centre of towns. If you have vibrant towns you will have vibrant rural areas to feed into the towns.

A vibrant rural area will have a vibrant rural town.

This action plan was developed as a result of widespread consultation and comes on foot of the CEDRA report, chaired by Pat Spillane. One of the first recommendations of the commission was that the Government reinvigorate its approach to support for rural economic development by preparing a clear and committed rural economic development policy statement. That is what the action plan is. The commission also recommended setting up a policy delivery and co-ordination mechanism and that is what this will do. I will monitor progress on this plan, which contains 275 actions, very closely.

Rural Development Plan

Joan Burton

Ceist:

46. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the details of grants and supports her Department proposes for the restoration of properties in rural towns and villages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4314/17]

Will the Minister give us details of the scheme of grants and payments in respect of doing up properties in rural towns and villages? When does she propose to launch the scheme and what is the amount of money allocated to it in the current year's budget?

On 23 January , the Government's action plan for rural development, Realising our Rural Potential, was launched in Ballymahon, County Longford. The plan is a whole-of-Government initiative and contains over 270 actions across five thematic pillars, to be delivered by Government Departments, State agencies and other groups. The action plan contains a number of measures which have the objective of rejuvenating Ireland’s rural towns and villages to make them more attractive places in which to live and work and to increase their tourism potential.

As part of budget 2017, I have secured funding of €12 million for an enhanced town and village renewal scheme this year. This represents a tripling of the original 2016 baseline allocation of €4 million for the scheme. The town and village renewal scheme for 2017 will be launched shortly and towns and villages to be included in the scheme will be selected through an application and assessment process.  The scheme will be funded by the Department and administered by local authorities.

As part of the scheme, I intend to launch a pilot project later in the year to encourage residential occupancy in rural towns and villages. This pilot will be launched in the second half of the year, when details of the scheme have been finalised in consultation with relevant Departments. The pilot will examine ways in which properties that are currently not in use in town centres can be renovated to allow them to be used for residential purposes. In 2016, financial support was also provided by my Department through a number of structured schemes for the conservation and protection of heritage buildings, including the built heritage investment scheme, the structures at risk fund and other initiatives operated by the Heritage Council and the OPW.

The Government’s action plan for housing and homelessness, which comes under the remit of the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, also includes a number of schemes which support the repair or refurbishment of properties.

Can the Minister tell us the date of the launch of the scheme and where the proposed pilot will be? What is the likely number of towns, villages and parishes in which it will be located? It is very difficult for people to plan if they get a lot of soft publicity in newspapers and media about such a scheme being launched but then find they get absolutely no information at all about it. The Minister spoke of an application process. When will the application process forms and information be available? We are approaching February and this information should be made available quickly because people will have to plan and look at their finances. Otherwise there will be no movement on it this year at all.

I never said there was an application process.

The Minister said applications would be assessed. I wrote it down.

I am referring to the pilot scheme to get people back into towns and villages. I never mentioned an application process. I said I was looking at developing a pilot scheme, to be rolled out in the latter half of this year, to encourage people to take up residential occupancy in rural towns and villages. The details of the scheme will be finalised through collaboration with relevant Departments with a view to launching it in the second half of the year. I will be working with my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, to introduce a range of initiatives to encourage more people to live in village and town centres because if we are serious about rural regeneration we need to start with our rural towns and villages.

A package of schemes will support our rural communities in 2017, including a €12 million town and village renewal scheme.

I am confused because in the general publicity around the launch of the scheme the Minister made much of the fact that people in small towns and villages would be able to take commercially-designated premises and convert them to accommodation. She and others in Government, as well as Government backbenchers, mentioned the availability of first-time buyers' grants for people to do up properties in these towns. I am just repeating what was in the media, where a menu of items was identified. Can the Minister account to the Dáil in detail for what she is proposing? It is all over the place. Young couples in towns and villages around the country would have an interest in these schemes but they are very confused over the Minister's proposals. They need to make plans to raise finances and do other things if they are to avail of these schemes.

The tax incentive to which the Deputy refers is the help-to-buy scheme and that relates to first-time buyers of newly-built homes. I am referring to something completely different, about trying to get people back in to the centre of towns to live. I will roll out a pilot scheme in the latter half of this year.

The pilot scheme will examine grant-aiding people who want to move into vacant buildings in the centre of town. They would receive grant aid to help them to renovate the premises. It is a pilot scheme for a limited number of towns that will be selected. I have no idea yet what towns they will be, but I will decide that at a later date with the relevant agencies. I want to be very clear that it is a pilot scheme. The help-to-buy scheme is completely separate. It is under the aegis of the Department of Finance and relates to new houses.

Will the Minister set out in some detail what the proposals are?

The Deputy already had two questions. I call Deputy Ó Cuív.

Can I answer that?

This is an exception. I will give the Minister ten seconds.

Go raibh maith agat. I am working to devise that scheme. It is being worked on and if the Deputy has any suggestions I would be glad to hear them. It is a pilot scheme that will be rolled out in the latter half of this year. The details are to be decided.

Scéimeanna Tacaíochta Gaeilge

Éamon Ó Cuív

Ceist:

47. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív den Aire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gnóthaí Réigiúnacha, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta cá mhéad airgid a d’íoc a Roinn agus Údarás na Gaeltachta faoi seach le hOllscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh (Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge san áireamh) anuraidh; cén méid atá geallta don bhliain seo; agus an ndéanfaidh sí ráiteas ina thaobh. [4316/17]

Mar is eol don Aire Stáit, bhí airgead nach beag á thabhairt ag Údarás na Gaeltachta agus ag an Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gnóthaí Réigiúnacha, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta do Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge le cúrsaí trí Ghaeilge a fhorbairt. An bhfuil an tAire Stáit, tríd an Roinn agus an t-údarás, ag leanúint leis an bpolasaí sin? An bhfuil sé ag tabhairt tacaíochta do Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, le cúrsaí trí Ghaeilge a chur ar fáil?

Bhunaigh Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, OÉG, Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge le hoibleagáid na hollscoile oideachas tríú-leibhéal trí mheán na Gaeilge a fhorbairt.  Theastaigh uathu cur chuige níos saindírithe agus níos straitéisí a fhorbairt chun cúrsaí trí mheán na Gaeilge agus gníomhaíochtaí taighde a fhorbairt ar bhealach inmharthana agus chun pobail Ghaeilge a chaomhnú sa Ghaeltacht. Comhoibríonn an tAcadamh le dámha, le ranna agus le hoifigí eile na hollscoile chun forbairt a dhéanamh ar raon agus ar líon na gcúrsaí a chuirtear ar fáil trí Ghaeilge ar champas na hollscoile i nGaillimh agus sa Ghaeltacht. I gcomhréir le socrú a rinneadh i gcomhar le hAcadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge OÉG agus leis an Údarás um Ard-Oideachas in 2015, ceadaíodh allúntas gur fiú €2.7 milliún san iomlán - €900,000 in aghaidh na bliana acadúla - le leithdháileadh ar an Acadamh i leith na mblianta acadúla 2015-16, 2016-17 agus 2017-18. Tá an t-allúntas seo ceadaithe don Acadamh le cumasú dóibh leanúint orthu ag soláthar raon cúrsaí trí mheán na Gaeilge sna hionaid Ghaeltachta atá faoina scáth, is iad sin, An Cheathrú Rua, Carna agus Gaoth Dobhair.

Faoi réir na gcoinníollacha a cuireadh leis an allúntas sin, íocadh €1.2 milliún san iomlán leis an Údarás um Ard-Oideachas in 2016 le dáileadh ar an Acadamh i leith na mblianta acadúla 2015-16 agus 2016-17. Déanfar íocaíocht eile leo in 2017 nuair a thagann éileamh ina leith agus an Roinn a bheith sásta go bhfuil na coinníollacha ábhartha a cuireadh leis an gceadú comhlíonta go sásúil. 

In éindí leis an allúntas bliantúil de €900,000, tá €57,000 san iomlán ceadaithe ag Údarás na Gaeltachta don Acadamh i dtreo chostas reáchtála an chúrsa dioplóma sa phleanáil teanga agus buanú teanga agus tá €36,000 de seo íoctha leo ó 2015 i leith. Ina theannta sin, tá €37,125 ceadaithe ag Údarás na Gaeltachta mar chabhair chun na costais a bhaineann leis an gcúrsa dioplóma sa chultúr dúchais a sheasamh agus táthar ag súil leis go n-íocfar é seo i mbliana.

Íocadh suim de €321,368 le hOllscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh faoi na scéimeanna tacaíochta Gaeilge in 2016. Tá suim de €305,114 ceadaithe i leith na bliana acadúil 2016-17 agus tá €154,500 de sin íoctha agus san áireamh san suim a híocadh leo in 2016.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Cuireadh an maoiniú seo ar fáil tríd an Údarás um Ard-Oideachas faoi na Scéimeanna Tacaíochta Gaeilge chun sraith de shainchúrsaí tríú leibhéal i nGaeilge, atá á gcur ar fáil ag Ollscoil na hÉireann Gaillimh agus atá dírithe ar riachtanais an Aontais Eorpaigh do phoist a dteastaíonn ardchumas Gaeilge ina leith, a sholáthar.

Tagann sé seo ar fad ar ndóigh leis an obair leanúnach atá ar bun ag mo Roinn i gcomhpháirtíocht le raon leathan páirtithe leasmhara, an tAcadamh agus Údarás na Gaeltachta ina measc, chun cúram a dhéanamh de chur i bhfeidhm na réimsí gnímh faoi leith den Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge 2010-2030 atá ábhartha sa chás seo, sé sin, an tOideachas agus an Ghaeltacht.

Tá mé ag iarraidh na figiúirí sin ar fad a thabhairt liom, ach breathnaíonn sé go bhfuil thart ar €1.5 milliún á thabhairt idir an t-údarás agus an Roinn. As vóta na Roinne ar fad a thagann sé sa deireadh do Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge. Ag éirí as sin, ba mhaith liom ceist a chur ar an Aire Stáit. An gceapann sé go mbeadh sé sásúil nach mbeadh uachtarán Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, in ann gnó a dhéanamh leis an Acadamh agus leis an Roinn trí mheán na Gaeilge? An bhfuil i gceist ag an Aire Stáit aon rud a dhéanamh faoi sin?

Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil Bille foilsithe ag an Teachta ar an ábhar sin agus sílim go mbeimid ag déanamh plé ar an mBille sin go luath. Mar is eol don Teachta, tá Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, faoi oibleagáid ag an Rialtas faoi fhorálacha ailt in Acht an Choláiste Ollscoile, Gaillimh le cúrsaí tríú-leibhéil trí mheán na Gaeilge a fhorbairt agus a sholáthar. Is é misean Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge ceannródaíocht a spreagadh agus a léiriú i measc phobal na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht agus laismuigh de, ceannródaíocht a chuirfidh le forbairt sóisialta, cultúrtha, eacnamaíochta agus teanga an phobail sin agus pobal na tíre trí chéile. Ní ceist í cumas Gaeilge an uachtaráin do mo Roinn, ach tuigim go bhfuil an Teachta ag cruthú leasaithe, mar a dúirt mé, faoi sin. Ó thaobh an eolais atá agam, phléigh coiste stiúrtha na hollscoile an cheist seo le déanaí. Tá sé ráite go dteastaíonn a lán scileanna chun post uachtaránach a dhéanamh agus, mar gheall ar easpa iomaíochta sa chomórtas deireanach, rinneadh cinneadh an polasaí sin a athrú.

Ón bhliain 1929 i leith, bhí Gaeilge ag uachtarán Choláiste na hOllscoile, Gaillimh, mar a bhí sé ag an am, nó Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, mar atá sé i láthair na huaire. Tháinig forás agus forbairt ar an ollscoil i gcaitheamh na hama sin. Ní dóigh liom go ndéarfadh éinne go ndearna an t-uachtarán atá ann faoi láthair drochjab sa phost a bhí le déanamh aige. Iarraim ar an Aire Stáit agus ar an Rialtas tacaíocht a thabhairt do mo Bhille nuair a thiocfaidh sé faoi bhráid na Dála. An gcinnteoidh siad go mbeidh ar a laghad institiúid tríú leibhéal amháin sa tír ina bhfuil rath ar an dá theanga? Is é seo an dream is oilte agus is mó oideachais sa tír. An mbeidh an Rialtas ag tacú leis an Dáil le cinntiú go mbeidh Gaeilge ag ar a laghad uachtarán d'aon cheann amháin de na coláistí ar fud na tíre, sé sin Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, a bhfuil cúram faoi leith uirthi i leith na Gaeilge?

Tá cinneadh le déanamh ag an Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna, an Teachta Bruton, faoin cheist seo. Níl a fhios agam cén uair a bheidh an Bille atá curtha chun cinn ag an Teachta os comhair na Dála. Cé gur príomhcheist don ollscoil í an cheist seo, ní bheidh aon athrú ar an bpolasaí atá san ollscoil an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn. Beag beann ar an gcinneadh a dhéantar, beidh an polasaí maidir leis an nGaeilge a chur chun cinn lárnach san ollscoil amach anseo. Mar is eol don Teachta, tá institiúidí ag an ollscoil i gCarna, ar an gCeathrú Rua agus i nGaoth Dobhair atá lárnach ó thaobh na Gaeilge. Beidh na haonaid láidir seo ag brú ar aghaidh leis an nGaeilge. Ó thaobh uachtaránacht Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, is príomhcheist í sin don Aire, an Teachta Bruton, agus freisin do bhord stiúrtha na hollscoile.

Is ceist í d'Aire Stáit na Gaeltachta freisin.

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