Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Luaigh mé inné na deacrachtaí atá ag tarlú sa Daingean mar gheall ar ainm na háite sin, Dingle-Daingean Uí Chúis. Tar éis éisteacht leis an mhéid a bhí le rá ag daoine eile agus é á phlé acu, ba mhaith liom an méid seo a rá i mBéarla. Many people believe that people living in the Gaeltacht who speak Irish are a kind of zealot. They are people who love and live their language. They are not bandits or fascists about their language even though some people outside the Gaeltacht may be like that.

This is a classic example of the reason I am always at odds with eagrais sa tír anois is arís mar gheall ar rudaí such as the type of nonsense that required for some time every single national body to produce glossy annual reports as Gaeilge even though nobody read them. At least they can now be published on the web, with which I have no problem. While I believe they should be available as Gaeilge for people who need it, we should be reasonable about it.

A classic example is the lack of understanding about Dingle-Daingean Uí Chúis. Níor chuir sé isteach ar mhuintir an Daingin gurb é ainm Béarla nó Gaeilge é Dingle nó Daingean Uí Chúis. It was nothing to do with that. It was about changing the name of where they lived. If it had been changed to another Irish or English word they would have felt the same. As somebody from the Gaeltacht I ask Senators to understand that point regardless of whether they agree or disagree.

There is an example this morning of the kind of thing that drives people mad and which I support strongly. Muintir na Gaeltachta Connemara are faced with a bypass of Galway city which will directly cross the Gaeltacht area. It was set out in the environmental impact survey but was not available to them as Gaeilge until two weeks before the hearing, whereas it was available to everybody else for six weeks. Gaeltacht people are let down when they cannot do their normal business as Gaeilge. Sin an sort tacaíochta gur chóir go mbeadh ann doíbh. It is not about forcing people to do things against their will; it is chun tacaíocht a thabhairt doíbh siúd atá sé ar intinn acu agus atá ag iarraidh maireachtáil trí Ghaeilge. I ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to return to this House, not that he will give us any great sense in what he has to say, but ba mhaith liom an rud a phlé leis.

Next Tuesday, we will have a full-day debate on health, which I welcome. However, I appeal to Senators not to allow it to descend into party political rows or arguments between various parts of the country. I ask that some sort of structure be provided for the debate because I am not interested in seeing the Minister for Health and Children act as a target for a four or five-hour debate. I want to hear what Members have to say about the lunacy of demanding the sacking of a Minister because people cannot keep their hospitals clean or regarding consultants' contracts and the people who earn €500,000 and more per year despite failing to recognise they use our equipment in our hospitals paid for by our taxes. I want to learn about the benchmarks but I also want a reasonable debate and would appreciate it if a question and answer session could be arranged. I am aware the Minister would also welcome the opportunity to address reasonable questions at some stage during the debate. We have had such an arrangement before and it made for an effective and efficient debate.

Further issues arise, such as the administrative staff referred to by my colleague, Senator Norris, although I disagree fundamentally with him. I would be the first to complain if I saw consultants signing documents or filling in diaries which should have been completed by administrators. I want these issues to be addressed. The Senator may have made a valid point about numbers and I also want to hear a response from the Minister.