Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

A number of people have contacted me about placenames. Brian Friel's "Translations" was one of the best plays he ever produced and hit a chord with people across the country, especially those in rural Ireland. The commission has been set up for a few years, but not very many counties have been covered. Are there enough staff in the commission? The commission is not independently funded, although it should be because this is a very important part of our history. There is much talk about what is happening to Tara, which is very important in protecting our history. We have wonderful placenames and much history in local areas, be they rural areas or in cities. However, we are letting that history go because we are not supporting the Placenames Commission with the funding or the staff to record and save our history. We are losing our history on a daily basis, especially given what has happened in the past ten years. It is important that we retain as much of it as we can.

Could the commission be set up separately? It could receive a separate budget from the Department and could run its own business, rather than being controlled directly by the Department. Can more staff be employed to cover every county? We need to save the history before it is too late.

See this speech in context