Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be short and sweet. On reading the reports, I want to make a comment on the expenditure in the area of the development and enhancement of the amenities we have around the country. In my time in the Office of Public Works, OPW, my eyes were opened to the amount of assets we have, like hidden gems. I am delighted to see that Coole Park is being developed by the Department and it is important that we continue to do these in the regions. It is very important that we create and promote all of the good things we have in the constituencies and in the regions.

The other important thing is the collaboration between the OPW, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, local authorities and Fáilte Ireland in promoting all of these assets as part of our tourism product. Very simply put, we have the assets, we just need to make sure that we use them and enhance them for the user and the increase in tourism we need to get into the regions.

I have one small problem for Minister of State, Deputy McHugh. In our talk about the Irish language I have one mystery about it. We spend time in primary and secondary school - I am not from a Gaeltacht area - learning and being taught Irish, not just my generation but my son’s generations also, and we cannot speak Irish after 13 years. This is a bit of a mystery to me. We spend a lot of time teaching but it seems that we lose it the minute we go out the door of the school and do not want to use it again. It has come home to me, because I am learning Irish now again to have the confidence to speak it. I would not dare try it with all of the experts in Irish that are here today. It is a deficiency in my language skills that I am ashamed of, after spending 13 years learning it and still not being able to speak it. We need to ensure when we are teaching Irish that we are teaching it for the love of the Irish and that people will be able to speak it afterwards and have that legacy.

I have some problems with signs in Galway after the completion of the motorway. The Gaeltacht comes out to Claregalway and is called Baile Chláir. The signage, unfortunately, is in Irish and a substantial number of people using the motorway, which is great, are arriving in a small pace called Belclare beside me. They are going into the local pub wondering where Claregalway is because Belclare and Baile Chláir look very similar. The signs need to be changed in that the English version needs to be added as well so that we can get around the motorways. Perhaps the Minister of State could see his way to give a few spare euros to put up a few signs, because it is very important.

We had a book launch in Claregalway two weeks ago about ploughing in Galway. One of the national directors of the ploughing association came up from Cork, and he was an hour and a half going around the motorway, trying to find Claregalway in the dark and he could not see a Claregalway sign any place. The satnav was not working right because of poor reception. It is a small thing and I would appreciate if this could be done.

I thank the Minister and say "Well done".