Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs

Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed)

2:15 pm

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá cúpla ceist agam ar ionadaithe Údarás na Gaeltachta. Cad iad na féidearthachtaí atá ann ó thaobh chruthú fostaíochta in earnáil na teanga? Dá gcuirfí an straitéis 20 bliain i bhfeidhm go huile is go hiomlán, cé mhéad post breise a bhféadfadh sé a chruthú sa nGaeltacht? Acmhainn aiceanta é atá sa nGaeltacht nach bhfuil in aon áit eile agus ní hamháin sa tír ach ar fud an domhain. Ní féidir le dream sa tSín, san Ind nó in áit eile dul in iomaíocht le post atá teanga-bhunaithe. An bhfuil a fhios ag na hionadaithe cé mhéad post sa nGaeltachta atá teanga-bhunaithe? Tóg, mar shampla, TG4 agus na fo-comhlachtaí ar fad atá ag táirgeadh faoi TG4, Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, RTE agus Raidió na Gaeltachta. An bhfuil aon suirbhé déanta ag an údarás ar an méid jabanna atá sa nGaeltacht, idir an Roinn féin, an t-údarás agus an coimisinéir teanga, mar shampla, nach mbeadh ann murach an teanga? Cé chomh mór is atá an t-údarás mar cruthaitheoir fostaíochta de bharr gur acmhainn aiceanta de chuid na Gaeltachta é?

Cé chomh mór is atá easpa bunstruchtúir agus easpa bonneagair bóithre, go mórmhór? Céard faoi leathanbhanda agus an tseirbhís fón póca? Idir easpa bóithre ó Bhaile Átha Cliath go Gaoth Dóbhair, fadhb teacht trasna na Gaillimhe agus easpa bóithre go Corca Dhuibhne ó Luimneach agus mar sin de, cé chomh mór is atá sé sin ina bhac ar fhorbairt i gceantair Ghaeltachta? Cuirim an cheist faoin airgead droim ar ais. Briste síos idir caipiteal ar fhoirgintí agus sealúchas a chuid féin agus infheistíocht i gcomhlachtaí, dá mbeadh sé ag an údarás, cé mhéad a bhféadfadh an t-údarás a chaitheamh go húsáideach, mar shampla, sa bhliain 2017? I mo thaithí, ag caitheamh airgead caipitil go mórmhór, tógann sé am mar chaithfí tairiscintí a fháil agus mar sin de. Braitheann an méid atá an t-údarás in ann a infheistiú i gcomhlacht ar an méid tograí maithe atá ag teachta faoina bhráid. An bhfuil go leor tograí maithe ag teachta faoina bhráid faoi láthair nach bhfuil an t-údarás in ann a airgeadú?

My colleague, the Chairman, has raised an interesting issue with respect to the Western Development Commission: infrastructure leading to development or development leading to infrastructure? Demand first, provision second, or vice versa? We have the most classic case of infrastructure first and a person with a vision and a wide view of the world, which was "do it now and the other will follow". How big has been the impact of Knock airport on the mid-north west in terms of sticking the thing in and saying, if we have that flagship piece of infrastructure, it will make the area more saleable? What is the commission's view on it? Do we wait to have the development first and get the motorway second? Alternatively, do we say we need a motorway to the north west or otherwise what is there and what could be there will not reach its full potential?

I think I was told the technical term for funds that would not give what a venture capitalist might want but would give the kind of return with which the pension reserve fund, for instance, would be satisfied. They used to call it the pension reserve fund but I think it is now called the national investment fund. If given access to that money - be it €20 million, €40 million, €60 million, €80 million or €100 million - under two conditions, one being long-term rates of return, which is what a pension fund wants, and the second being the kind of return a pension fund would expect as opposed to what a venture capitalist might expect, could the commission use the money over a period in useful investment in companies where it would win more than it would lose, allowing that some will lose and some will win, and get a reasonable return for its money on the total package? What kind of funding could it use out of that fund of a few billion euros? Would it make a significant difference? Does lack of working capital inhibit the development of companies?

This is my final point. We are always talking about problems in rural Ireland, and I do not like seeing it that way. I always say that the problem in rural Ireland is unexploited potential. There is more potential than we could dream of and people with creativity and the ability to develop. However, what are the three or four biggest factors that hold them back? Are they finance, education, infrastructure? What would unlock this absolutely incredible potential in rural Ireland? What would be the three or four things that would unlock it and allow it flourish? The potential and the resources are there in so many sectors. We need to just turn the key and unlock it.

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