Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The scheme is useful and is probably the best we have right now. However, it is not adequate as it stands. Community groups in my constituency are telling me there are serious problems. There is not enough funding for an adequate number of staff. The work and pay conditions for existing staff are not competitive enough so there is a problem in retaining staff. Many of the groups are hoping to employ additional staff in specialised roles to deal with youths or as business development officers. In that vein, the scheme is there. The Minister said it is not her responsibility but funding from her Department is used. The Department and Government missed an open goal with the previous budget by not taking seriously Conradh na Gaeilge's reasonable and detailed plan, An Plean Fáis 2024-2029, which would have cost very little extra and would have begun to right the wrongs of decades of underfunding of the Irish language sector. It would have begun to finally bridge the gap between it and the arts and heritage sectors, for example, which enjoy many multiples of funding compared to the support given to the Irish language. Will the Minister pledge support to Irish-language community groups through the scheme we are talking about or through other means?

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