Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Tá sé cúpla uair a chloig ó bhíomar ag déanamh an jab céanna i dtaobh cúrsaí Gaeltachta agus Gaeilge. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch as a chur i láthair. Tá cúpla ceist agam.

In the introduction to the Revised Estimates briefing that has been prepared, the Minister speaks of excellent progress in his Department. I do not for a moment question the work that is going on within the Department and the diligence of those who are doing it, but that "excellent progress" line stands in contrast with the experience of rural communities experiencing decline and depopulation, notwithstanding the excellent work of local development companies and the communities within them, precisely, as we have discussed before, because of a lack of housing opportunities for young families in particular but also a lack of public services, be they GPs, An Garda Síochána or post offices. These networks and these supports that were there for people, these public services, just do not seem to be there in the same numbers. That is creating a crisis in rural communities, many of which are facing a demographic cliff edge. I do not see a whole lot in the priorities and the text in front of us that seeks to address that. I understand that the provision of gardaí is a matter for the Department of Justice and that the development of housing is a matter for the Department of housing, but bringing this all together and addressing the needs of rural communities is a matter for the Minister's Department and for him as Minister.

Under section 3, something that jumped out at me is that of the 21 key priorities for 2025, half begin with the word "continue" or "continued". That, to me, does not give a huge amount of confidence in the view that things may need to change and that we need to step things up a gear if we are to address those issues effectively, particularly in rural communities but in communities both urban and rural, if I am being honest. It is just something I said I would mention just to throw it out there. Somebody looking at that would see "continue the implementation", "continued oversight", "continue the effective delivery", "continue to deliver tangible ..." and would not get a sense of what is new, what the big idea is or what will change.

I mention the carryover of €2.2 million of the capital budget from the Gaeltacht and Gaeilge side. What does that relate to? Is there any such carryover on the capital side in the other two large parts of the Minister's Department, rural development and community development?

Chair, do I have a certain amount of time?