Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deirtear liom go bhfuil an polasaí um oideachas Gaeltachta atá ag an Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna le seoladh amárach i gConamara. Is cúis iontais dom é nach bhfuil aon duine ar an gcoiste seo curtha ar an eolas faoi sin. I have been informed the Taoiseach will go to Connemara tomorrow, and the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht will also be there, to launch the new education policy for the Gaeltacht. I am quite surprised the committee has not been informed this is being done. I am disappointed nobody from the committee was invited, and none of the local Oireachtas representatives seem to have been invited either. This is very disappointing because we have been calling for this to be launched and we have welcomed its development. We were hoping it would happen sooner. It has been delayed for more than year. It is very disappointing. I have been given confirmation that other people were invited over a week ago to the launch. It is a very bad show by the Department if it is looking for buy-in from the various stakeholders that it did not inform us in advance that this was happening and invited us to the launch. I propose that as a committee we write to the Minister on this issue expressing our disappointment and concern and requesting that in future any development such as this is indicated to the committee and that we are invited to such events.