Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 June 2004
2 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the position in regard to plans to decentralise Forás na Gaeilge to County Donegal; the latest discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Office (details supplied) on gaining the approval of the North-South Ministerial Council for the move; if he envisages objections coming forth from the council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16977/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, progress on the proposed decentralisation of staff of Forás na Gaeilge to Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, is subject to and awaits the agreement of the North-South Ministerial Council.
I met the Minister, Angela Smith MP, who has co-responsibility for the North-South Language Body, on 12 May 2004. One of the matters discussed was the proposed decentralisation and it was agreed that the ongoing process of assessment in this regard should be brought forward by our respective Departments in consultation with Forás na Gaeilge.
Will the Minister not agree that the Government's decentralisation programme in general has all the signs of something that was made up on the back of a cigarette packet in that there was no prior agreement with the unions and no consultation with anybody? Is it not all the more difficult because it was decided that a cross-Border body in which the Minister is involved would decentralise without any thought to the serious damage it could do to the Good Friday Agreement having regard to the fact that the long-held view is that the Agreement will not be changed? What is the position on the Minister's discussions with his counterpart in Northern Ireland? Is she satisfied with what the Minister is proposing or are we into a situation where there will be no going forward from here?
I assure the Deputy that there will be full progress on all these matters. On decentralisation, we appear to be getting a funny message from the Opposition. It reminds me somewhat of Sir Humphrey Appleby in the "Yes, Prime Minister" series — one never opposes anything but instead puts all sorts of barriers in the way and hopes it never happens. The Opposition will be disappointed. Decentralisation will go ahead in full.
The issue of Forás na Gaeilge must have the assent of the authorities in the North. We are agreed on the way forward on that issue but I would point out to the Deputy that one of the other bodies under my remit is Waterways Ireland, whose headquarters is located in a decentralised location in the North, Enniskillen. There is nothing in the Good Friday Agreement that states North-South Bodies must be in London, Belfast or Dublin.
Furthermore, there is already a precedent for one of the bodies having its head office in a decentralised location in Northern Ireland. I would point out further that there are two parts to the language body, that is, the Forás Ultach and the Forás na Gaeilge. The Forás Ultach already has its offices in Belfast and Donegal and I cannot understand why anybody would think it strange that if the Ulster Scots body has its two offices, the one in Donegal and the one in Belfast, its sister body, the Forás na Gaeilge, would also have its two offices in Donegal and Belfast.
The Minister is avoiding the question. An announcement was made in the budget that a cross-Border body would be decentralised to Gweedore. There had been no prior consultation with the British authorities on that. Is that the way we operate in co-operation? I do not believe that is the case. Will the Minister also outline how the staff in Forás na Gaeilge are dealing with this issue? Are they happy to go, and what happens to those who decide they do not want to be decentralised? Will they be without a job?
The Deputy has raised two issues and I will try to deal with them separately. If the Deputy refers to the budget document he got on budget day in December he will see that it explicitly states that since Forás na Gaelige is a North-South Body, the intention signalled by the Government that day was subject to agreement with the British authorities. Therefore, we did not make a unilateral decision. We said the decision was subject to agreement. One party must always initiate a decision. It is wrong to say we unilaterally decided. The budget document made it quite clear that we were aware that we required agreement for that.
The process of getting agreement is proceeding. I had a meeting recently with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ms Angela Smith, and it was agreed that we would meet again in the near future. We will progress that matter.
Subject to the consent of the Northern authorities, the same procedures will apply to the staff of Foras na Gaeilge as to the wider public service. The Deputy is aware of those procedures. The central applications process is described in the Mullarkey report. The staff of Foras na Gaeilge will be in the same position as the staff of the other public bodies which are subject to decentralisation. They are not a case apart, once the agreement of the Northern authorities is received.
