Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

At that time, the same arguments about cost were put forward, but TG4 has proved to be an outstanding success. The very same thing happened when people argued over the cost of providing Gaelscoileanna, which now constitute one of the most successful educational outlets.

I am always surprised, particularly in the context of human rights, that we never stop to think of the frustration and humiliation which was handed out to the people of the Gaeltacht when they sought the provision of health, education and other services through Irish but could not find it. Today, the Gaeltacht is not confined to the same geographical areas. Thousands of Irish-speaking families got hope when the new language legislation was introduced, so let us not think of everything in terms of euros. Let us also consider national pride, as this House did when supporting the new legislation.