Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the details of the scope of the work of the Placenames Commission and what has been completed to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12386/08]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The function of the Placenames Commission is to advise the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs on Irish forms of placenames for legal purposes as provided for in part five of the Official Languages Act 2003, including the placenames of Ireland as they are defined in article 31 of the Act, in order to confirm the Irish forms of those placenames, and preparation of placename orders as provided for in article 32 of the Act; Irish forms of placenames not given in the Act, that is to say street names; publication and official usage of Irish forms of placenames; development of research and study on placenames in third level institutions and other educational institutions; appropriate marketing on the research of the placenames branch and other matters pertaining to the placenames of Ireland.

As of July 2003, the commission is appointed for a three-year term. The current commission was appointed with effect from 10 September 2006 and meets six times a year on average. Since the enactment of the Official Languages Act 2003, the commission has advised on matters relating to ten placenames orders which have been made under the provisions of the Act. The commission is supported by the placenames branch of my Department and I will be happy to address further questions the Deputy may have about the work of the branch.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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A number of people have contacted me about placenames. Brian Friel's "Translations" was one of the best plays he ever produced and hit a chord with people across the country, especially those in rural Ireland. The commission has been set up for a few years, but not very many counties have been covered. Are there enough staff in the commission? The commission is not independently funded, although it should be because this is a very important part of our history. There is much talk about what is happening to Tara, which is very important in protecting our history. We have wonderful placenames and much history in local areas, be they rural areas or in cities. However, we are letting that history go because we are not supporting the Placenames Commission with the funding or the staff to record and save our history. We are losing our history on a daily basis, especially given what has happened in the past ten years. It is important that we retain as much of it as we can.

Could the commission be set up separately? It could receive a separate budget from the Department and could run its own business, rather than being controlled directly by the Department. Can more staff be employed to cover every county? We need to save the history before it is too late.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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We all agree that what the Deputy is saying is an important part of what we do as a nation. Much work has been done. The official Irish versions of the placenames of those counties have been recorded in Kilkenny, Louth, Limerick, Monaghan, Waterford, Tipperary and Offaly, as have Gaeltacht areas, centres and districts of population and counties and provinces. A further order relating to non-administrative names in the Gaeltacht has been prepared by the commission, which will be presented for consideration under the provision of the Act next June, following public consultation.

The Department established a postgraduate bursary scheme in 2006 in educational institutions and the commission has advised on the awarding of bursaries. Six of these bursaries have been awarded to date, which will allow postgraduate students to undertake research on placenames in areas of counties Cork, Roscommon, Meath and Westmeath, as well as other aspects of placename studies. Following further advice from the Commission, the Department is funding a three-year post-doctoral fellowship in NUI Galway to complete research on the placenames of County Mayo.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am delighted to hear that.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The research will expedite the making of an order for placenames in the county outside Gaeltacht areas, possibly by early 2010.

It is fair to say that any additional staff that are to be assigned to this area will have to be found from within the Department's allocation.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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What funding was spent on the Placenames Commission this year and is there a timeframe for when every county will be completed?

The Minister of State said the commission meets about seven times a year. When did it last meet?

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I cannot give the Deputy details of the specific funding now, but I can arrange to have them supplied to him. I gather the date of the last meeting is on the website. The Internet address for the database is www.logainm.ie I am sorry I cannot find that information for the Deputy.