Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Abolition of this scheme would be the greatest national scandal. There are three Gaeltacht areas in my constituency of Mayo to which people and families from Dublin and all over the country come to learn and to speak Irish. This provides an income for many people in those areas. This year, but for the Irish colleges, there would have been little tourism in the Gaeltacht.

I want the Minister to assure the people involved in this scheme that the grant will be available to them next year. They need to know this now to plan for next year. These people have already endured cutbacks this year by the Department of Education and Science in terms of grant aid. The Minister and his Department are responsible for promotion of the Irish language. The Minister already referred to the Irish language strategy.

I disagree with the Minister's remarks on the McCarthy report. It is a Government report. It was paid for by Government.

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