Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Níl me chun mórán a rá faoin scéal seo. Sílim go bhfuil go leor le moladh sa mhéid atá ráite ag an Seanadóir Barrett maidir le freagracht ó thaobh cúrsaí airgeadais sa tír seo. There is substantially a great deal to be said for the broad element of what Senator Barrett proposes. We obviously need to see value for money from every penny spent by this State. We have many organisations involved between the Government's purse-strings and when a project is created. It is important to take the wage and administration elements into account in such organisations when grant aid is being made, so that we do not just hand it out willy-nilly, although I am not suggesting that is what the Minister of State does.

As part of a broader call, Sinn Féin wants us to examine these elements in all State organisations. If a huge element is going into administration in an organisation on the way to getting an interesting tourist attraction built, we need to question that. If a chief executive is being paid more than €100,000 a year, is it money well spent? Part of the administration costs would go towards defraying the costs and expenses of CEOs. We should examine that aspect in all the organisations we fund. Perhaps we may need to draw up guidelines for the levels of remuneration in those organisations. The State is willing to put its hand in its pocket and support cultural and tourism development, but we will not do so at the expense of keeping people in comfortable jobs when the State cannot afford that. An element of proofing needs to be done through the process that has been described.

In addition, a tourism infrastructure audit should be undertaken so that when money is being granted to Fáilte Ireland or other groups, they will have to state why they seek such funding. It should be done from a regional perspective, so that if it concerned a theatre or tourist centre - or, in Connemara, for example, Ónóir do Phiarsaigh to commemorate Pádraig Pearse, which we have been advocating for quite a number of years - one must ask whether there are any other tourist attractions in that area that are focal points to draw bus-loads of tourists there.

We need to examine matters from a regional perspective, and I know the Minister of State will appreciate this as he is from the west. We need focal points - one attraction in each region that will attract visitors. There should therefore be a weighting system that looks across the regions, does an audit and can state that there is a deficit in south Connemara and therefore we need a focal point to attract people. From there they can move on to north Connemara, Westport and up to Sligo and elsewhere because there are gaps around the country.

In that context, an infrastructural audit is also required. Do we have other infrastructure in place which is under utilised? A former Minister for the Gaeltacht put a great deal of money into piers in Gaeltacht areas. In certain areas they were useful but other legislation came in which made it so difficult to fish from those piers that they are under utilised. Is there infrastructure that could be utilised, such as those piers, for cultural tourism or the like? I am using that as one example where an infrastructural audit could examine other elements whereby moneys were invested in piers or other things, that could have other uses. With our limited resources, should we develop such infrastructure as a priority?

We cannot build a Taj Mahal in the middle of a desert. If we do not have the proper road, rail and air infrastructure so that the public can access these facilities, there is very little point in building them. It is extremely important to link this in to the wider policy of what infrastructural development is going on. On numerous occasions I have mentioned the traffic situation in Galway, for example. We find it difficult to attract tourists to Connemara at the moment, even though it is one of the most beautiful places in the country, due to the difficulty of getting people through the city. If the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar cannot put in place the infrastructure from a transport perspective, it will impede development the Minister might try to promote in other areas. That needs to be joined up.

We need a sense of regional proofing; we need to ensure the regions get their fair share of the budget. That should be part of the assessment process with regard to how the moneys are being spent by the likes of Fáilte Ireland. Let us look at the regions which are under-developed. Tourism is one of the industries that can be decentralised. People want to travel to the periphery and want to go to the coast and to areas of specific interest and they are outside of the urban centres. We need to promote that and we need to have a proper policy of decentralisation.

My last point, and I began to make it yesterday, is that Gaillimh le Gaeilge did a study of the value of the Irish language to Galway city. It is worth €136 million a year to the city and county from the different spin-off industries, tourism and so on. There is no reason this cannot be developed around the country. Bodies, such as Fáilte Ireland need to have a very positive attitude towards promoting the Irish language. That has not happened before. It should not just be a Gaeltacht issue but something we are promoting through every amenity and tourism destination we have, and that we use as a positive way of promoting our language and culture. There is an economic reason for it. By giving ourselves that specific cultural identity and showing to the world that we are different, it draws more tourists here. It has been shown as one of the factors that brings people here, of which the Minister is well aware.

Tá an Ghaeilge iontach tábhachtach. Tá cultúr, teanga agus saibhreas faoi leith againn. Ní dóigh liom go bhfuilimid ag baint barr feabhais astu. Ba cheart iad a thógaint san áireamh nuair atá meastóireacht á dhéanamh ar na hiarratais caipiltil seo atá á lua. Ba chóir go mbeadh sé soiléir ar gach foirm iarratais cad atá an togra a dhéanamh maidir le cur chun cinn na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta, agus ó thaobh an teanga agus an cultúr atá againn.