Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom mo dhíomá a léiriú mar gur gealladh dúinn, nuair a bhíomar ag scor, go mbéadh díospóireacht ar na healaíona ar siúl inniu ach níor tharla sin. Deirtear liom go mbeidh sé ag tarlú an tseachtain seo chugainn. Ba mhaith liom soiléiriú a fháil ar sin, mar tá cuid mhaith grúpaí ealaíne atá ag súil leis an díospóireacht sin.

Ar ábhar i bhfad níos tromchúisigh, fad is atá muid ag geadsaíocht anseo tá 130 post idir dhá cheann na meá ins na ceantair Gaeltachta i Meitheal Forbartha Gaeltachta. Ba mhaith liom leasú a iarraidh ar Riar na hOibre inniu le go dtiocfadh an t-Aire, an Teachta Phil Hogan, isteach sa Teach le míniú dúinn céard tá ag tarlú.

I call for an amendment to the Order of Business. As we sit here, 130 jobs in Gaeltacht areas are on the brink of disappearing. Last week, Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta, a company fully funded by the State, had a board meeting at which the members discussed advice by management consultancy Mazars that the company should close because it was trading in a way it should not. The board took a decision that day to cease trading immediately. The manager rang a number of employees to ask them to tell their colleagues they no longer had jobs. In the interim, there were meetings between officials from Pobal, under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, and members of the board of directors and ex-management of this company. Up to half an hour ago, none of the employees of this company had been given any notification of where they stood. They cannot collect their dole or use their mortgage protection plans, and they really do not know what to do.

Some of the people concerned are employed under FÁS schemes, and they were told yesterday to go back into work today under these FÁS schemes, although when we sought clarification from FÁS we were told there was no contract for these people to be at work and that they would not be covered by insurance if they did go to work. It is a serious matter. All the funding for this company comes from the State. It is under the aegis of the Minister. These jobs could be saved and the company could be put right. The reason the company is in trouble is bad management, as highlighted by a number of audit reports done by Pobal. We have asked for these reports to be published but they have not been. However, I have seen a copy of one report, and it is a damning indictment of the company.