Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I am concerned by the demise of the Irish language newspaper. Since I learned to read there has been an Irish language newspaper. Decades ago there was an Irish language newspaper Amárach, which was followed by Inniú, then Lá and then Gaelscéal. It is regrettable that Gaelscéal has been discontinued, but it was subsidised by €400,000 per annum and the subsidy on each copy ranged between €6 and €7. It was not economically viable. I know that Foras na Gaeilge is looking at other ways to replace what has gone. Foinse is issued weekly as an adjunct to one of the national daily newspapers. There is a vacuum. It is envisaged that a new service will be provided some time in the future. I understand there is an online newspaper available but people like to have a newspaper in their hands.

Deputy McLellan referred to the reduction in funding for Irish language and Gaeltacht activities. Of course, our Department, like every other Department, suffered a reduction in funding.

We are no different from those in the health and education sectors. Nevertheless, we are maintaining front-line services for those who use the Irish language, in the Gaeltacht and on the islands. The reduction is more pronounced in the capital budget rather than the current budget from which front-line services to the Gaeltacht are maintained. For instance, this year the Department has a total allocation of €8.223 million for language schemes in the Gaeltacht. This includes current funding of €6.723 million and capital funding of €1.5 million. This funding is to support worthy schemes to support the speaking of the language and its development in Gaeltacht areas and I am glad to state there has been no reduction in any of the schemes. This year the Department is maintaining the schemes it operated last year, including, for instance, scéim na bhfoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge, under which approximately 24,000 students from different parts of the country attend Gaeltacht courses on an annual basis and for which €4.2 million has been allocated. In addition, there is the family support scheme which I announced in April 2012, for which €2.5 million is available in 2013. Its purpose is to advance the 20 year strategy on the Irish language. The Department is concentrating not on the infrastructure of the Gaeltacht but on giving priority to schemes that will protect the language and give incentives to parents and young people to have Irish as their first language. For instance, the Department is in touch with parents even before their children attend school. When children are born, parents are given an information package at a cost of approximately €40 - the Department has already distributed approximately 1,500 - outlining the advantages and reasons they should consider having Irish as the child's first language. As I stated, 1,500 such packages have been distributed and it is envisaged that a further 1,000 will be distributed before the end of the year. In addition, funding is available for Irish language support schemes outside the Gaeltacht, for which €4.2 million is available in 2013, comprising current funding of €4.1 million and capital funding of €100,000. Nevertheless, despite the percentages to which the Deputy referred, I am confident that the work will continue and that the Department will continue to support the schemes in place.

Did the Deputy also refer to the islands?