Marie Moloney (Labour)

Thank you. I promise I will keep my contribution to one issue, which concerns the mná tí in Gaeltacht areas. During the week, these mná tí received a letter from Roinn na Gaeltachta capping the number of students they can keep in their accommodation at 14. The summer colleges provide a major livelihood and bring big revenue into Gaeltacht areas every year. The students spend in the local shops and their parents visit at weekends, stay in the hotels and take students out for lunch and so on. All of these women are tax compliant and most got a grant from Roinn na Gaeltachta to do up their houses to accommodate the students. Now, they are being told they cannot do that. As we speak, in the Dingle-Daingean Uí Chúis area of west Kerry, 87 students are left without accommodation for the coming June, another case of no room at the inn. I ask the Minister to attend the House for a debate on why he has issued this directive or, at the very least, to give us an explanation through the Leader.