Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 8: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the Irish language organisations which received funding from his Department in 2007; the amount in each case; the purpose of the grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5595/08]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I assume the Deputy's parliamentary question refers to voluntary Irish language organisations rather than to funding of the public bodies, Foras na Gaeilge, which includes the functions of the former Bord na Leabhar Gaeilge since 1 January 2008, and Údarás na Gaeltachta, that come under my Department's remit, or to other public bodies.

Funding is provided under my Department's Ciste na Gaeilge to various Irish language organisations and groups, as well as for specific language projects to foster, promote and encourage the use of the Irish language. The grants are aimed primarily at groups or organisations that are operating outside Gaeltacht areas.

In recent years, four sub-funds were launched within the Ciste, namely the fund for Irish courses in third level institutions abroad; the business fund, which covers organisations such as Gael Taca, Gaillimh le Gaeilge and Gnó Mhaigh Eo; the placenames research fund to provide bursaries to postgraduate students who select placenames as a subject for research; and the fund for the provision of Irish language DVDs for children.

Funding is also provided in Gaeltacht areas to Irish language and other community-based organisations that work to sustain and promote the use of the Irish language through their activities. These activities include language planning, recreational and sporting activities, language assistance and home visitation schemes, cultural activities and summer camps.

I have set out in a table, which will be circulated in the Official Report, details of the voluntary Irish language organisations that received funding from Ciste na Gaeilge and under these Gaeltacht schemes in 2007.

It is also open to voluntary Irish language organisations to apply for assistance under other grant schemes operated by my Department to provide support for organisations in the community and voluntary sector. The bulk of funding for Irish language organisations at national level is provided by Foras na Gaeilge, rather than directly by my Department.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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What percentage of these funds went to the Minister's Galway West constituency? Were any moneys allocated to the Waterford constituency?

Is the Minister satisfied a substantial dividend for the Irish language is being developed and it is used more because of this funding?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Am I glad we are getting parochial today?

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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The Minister is good at it.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I run my schemes in an objective manner.

An organisation in my constituency applied for moneys from the Ciste and received them. Under the scheme, if an organisation comes up with €1, it will receive €4, as long as it has a suitable business plan. It is done on an open competition basis and is disbursed on that basis.

No moneys went to Waterford but I understand no application was received from there. It is like the national lottery — if one does not buy the ticket, one cannot win the award.

Half of the Irish-speaking population lives in the Galway Gaeltacht and that is why it gets more moneys than the Waterford Gaeltacht, one of the smallest. Even if Deputy O'Shea were Minister, he would have to recognise this reality and could not make it that Waterford received more than Galway.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister referred to a wide range of activities funded by his Department, directly and indirectly. Do Irish language publications come under the remit of his Department? Lá Nua, a daily newspaper with a cross-Border dimension, is in danger of going out of business due to lack of funding. It would be a pity to see a páipéar laethúil Gaeilge ag imeacht uainn. An bhfuil aon rud gur féidir leis an Aire nó Foras na Gaeilge a dhéanamh to ensure the continuation of this particular newspaper that is read in every part of the country, particularly Gaeltacht areas and on both sides of the Border?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Bord na Leabhar Gaeilge subsidises and assisted with the publication of books in Irish. On 1 January 2008, funding and responsibility for that matter was transferred to Foras na Gaeilge. The bord was established in the 1950s when there was no Foras na Gaeilge. As the Opposition rightly states, we should also examine if we have too many agencies, boards, groups, head offices and so on. This is one case where some North-South synergy makes some sense, although it is only being funded from the South, and giving Foras na Gaeilge responsibility for that.

I have seen much commentary on Lá Nua. Foras na Gaeilge provided funding for the newspaper after a tender competition. If a tender winner cannot comply with the terms of the contract signed, to get more money without a new competition would give a legitimate grievance to those parties who failed to win the competition that the terms had changed.

It is not a question of Foras na Gaeilge being mean but of good practice. If Lá Nua cannot continue to publish according to the contract with Foras na Gaeilge, Foras na Gaeilge has no option to declare the contract cannot be fulfilled. There was mention of publishing it on the Internet but publishing in paper form was what the original contract demanded.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Will the Minister agree there is as much an onus on him and the relevant agencies to give assistance to Irish language-users outside the Gaeltacht areas? In south Kildare alone there are four gaelscoileanna. Many parents sending their children to these schools need assistance in using the Irish language. Many of them inform me they feel isolated in this regard and are solely dependent on the teacher with regard to, say, homework through Irish. What can be done to alleviate the concerns about moving this forward?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I concur with the Deputy. I do not believe Irish would survive outside the Gaeltacht if the Gaeltacht did not exist, but I also believe, as I have said time and again, that the Gaeltacht could not survive if Irish was not spoken in the rest of the country. I do not see them as being separate and the conditions as different. I have said many times that outside the Gaeltacht, the gaelscoil should be the nucleus of a community of Irish speakers. One of the things that held us up in the past five years was that when Foras na Gaeilge was set up we thought we would see five years of growth and expansion. However, we know what happened; it is history now. Direct rule was reinstituted and everything was put in care and maintenance and mothballed.

The primary responsibility for delivery of policies to do with Irish outside the Gaeltacht is devolved to Foras. I recently had a meeting with the newly appointed chairperson of Foras, Liam Ó Maoilmhichil, and one of the things I emphasised to him was the importance of using the gaelscoil as a nucleus around which a community of people interested in Irish could be built. I have no doubt that when we come to develop our 20-year strategy, each gaelscoil will form a kernel. It would not be that the strategy would be exclusive to people attending these schools, but they would be little nodes out of which we could grow the language. This is a vital methodology for the future.