Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus ba mhaith liom an t-am a roinnt idir mé féin agus an tAire chun deis a thabhairt di freagra a thabhairt ar no chuid ceisteanna. Ar an gcéad dul síos ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil sé dochreidte agus go hiomlán do-ghlactha nár tugadh deis dúinn an Ghaeltacht a phlé go dtí seo agus nach mbeidh plé iomlán air seo os comhair na Dála mar is os comhair an Choiste Speisialta um Fhreagra ar Covid-19 a bheidh é seo á phlé. Tá na ceantair Ghaeltachta buailte go dona ag an bpaindéim seo agus ba chóir go mbeadh sé pléite ann cheana féin leis an Aire sinsearach, a bhfuil dualgais aici maidir leis an nGaeltacht.

A Aire, we are in a climate emergency and we need action to be taken by every sector to ensure that we fulfil and deliver on our targets. The restrictions on movement over the past few months have provided people with an opportunity to visit local woodlands and beaches. I live in Galway city and I am very lucky that Merlin Park Woods and Ballyloughane beach are within a 2 km radius of my home. Merlin Park Woods is a fantastic amenity for those living in the large estates in the area. It is a fantastic amenity owing to the work carried out there by Friends of Merlin Woods, a voluntary organisation which has kept it to the fore. For us to ensure our woodlands, beaches and heritage sites remain fantastic amenities this work should be led by local councils. They should not be solely reliant on voluntary organisations.

Another interesting point in regard to the past few months is that many people have for the first time visited local heritage sites in their area.

An absolutely fantastic resource that so many people I know used was the historic environment map viewer. This documents the different historic sites and monuments across Ireland and it gave people an opportunity to look at those sites within a 2 km radius of their homes. There was an awful lot of excitement when the latter changed to 5 km and people could look at the viewer again. This shows the importance of these sites and of ensuring that they are not allowed to become dilapidated, which is unfortunately the case for many of them. This year has shown us the importance, for everyone, of our own local cultural sites in our local areas, especially if we are looking to promote holidaying at home. The Minister mentioned the upgrading of these sites and that is absolutely essential.

I also want to raise an issue relating to the arts sector. The arts sector has long been very vocal and to the forefront on heritage, promoting climate action and so on. For example, the green arts initiative has worked with Creative Carbon Scotland and that has been organised through Theatre Forum Ireland. Their work has shown that while venues have a lack of environmental policies, 80% of them have green ambassadors in their organisation. This shows clearly that there is a willingness to make theatres more green. However, the supports might not be in place. What role is the Department playing in supporting venues, theatres and arts centres to develop their own environmental policies in order to ensure that work continues?

This comes on the back of the fact that I am from Galway. If we are looking to promote the environment and our heritage, it is very important that it is involved in everything we do. Galway had the honour of being awarded the European Capital of Culture 2020. There was a huge amount of buzz and excitement about it and it included all different aspects of organisations, though there have been issues with it since. Has a formal request been made to extend the Galway European Capital of Culture programme 2020? As a result of the Covid-19 restrictions, many of the events that had been planned, which would have promoted the culture, environment and heritage of Galway city and county, have been cancelled.

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