Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There are serious questions around the adequacy of funding from the very beginning. There are also serious questions about local authority management in this matter. There were three managers in my time during that process and there are serious issues. Notwithstanding that we were told there was a hands-on approach by the manager, he did not seem to have the right to go into the building. That emerged from the "Prime Time" exposé which worried me. I was gone from the local authority at that point. If one is taking a hands-on approach, one should have right of entry into a project that was a hole in the ground. I hope these matters are addressed.

In relation to the Irish language, bhí rún os comhair an tSeanaid inné maidir leis an ngéarchéim ó thaobh na Gaeilge de. Níl a fhios agam ar ghlacadh leis an rún sin. Tá cupla ceist agam. Cá bhfuil an plean gníomhaíochta? Tá súil agam go bhfuil an tuarascáil maidir leis an straitéis 20 bliain agus an plean gníomhaíochta, a fhoilsíodh do TG4, léite ag na hoifigigh. Tar éis dom na laigí agus na rudaí nach bhfuil curtha i bhfeidhm a ardú, ba mhaith liom díriú ar na fadhbanna atá ar Oileán Thoraí. We already had these difficulties with the Aran Islands. Now we have an island split which seems an appalling result. I do not believe anybody can stand over that, least of all the Department. The ferry being proposed for Tory Island, Queen of Aran, is 40 years old.

In any event, this latest debacle highlights the lack of a policy for the islands, whether that is the Department’s responsibility or the Government’s. I have been through this in Galway, as have all local politicians, with the ferry service for the Aran Islands. It has happened again with Tory Island. It is unacceptable that this debacle has happened. We should have learned from the Aran Islands.

Will the Department give more details on the Gaeltacht housing grants? On Foras na Gaeilge, I understood that the Office of Public Works, OPW, was willing to facilitate and advice on the lease of the new offices. Will Ms Licken clarify that? Will the Department set out for the committee when it became aware of the whole situation? Will the Comptroller and Auditor General look at Foras na Gaeilge separately?