Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is a wonderful scheme. The problem is that we do not know what criteria were used or how they were used. That is okay because it is a pilot project, but we need the result of the pilot project back on time because there has been a delay to the date in the roll-out. We need to learn from the pilot project and to look at it nationally to see which areas would benefit the most. We will clearly all pick our own areas. I am not asking the Minister to do that. In Galway and south Mayo, which is in the Galway West constituency, I think of Kilmaine, Shrule, Carraroe, Carna and of the Gaeltacht, the population of which has dropped. There is a serious crisis with the language. Surely there should be Gaeltacht areas as an essential criterion here. It is important that we publish the details of the project, learn from it and have openness and accountability about the criteria. This involves a substantial amount of money.

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