Sean Barrett (Independent)

I thank the technical staff for repairing the translation equipment during the debate on the Gaeltacht Bill. The staff who serve this House always deserve thanks for showing patience and professionalism.

There is still a problem with the Gaeltacht Bill. There has been a view in the permanent Government for some time that one cannot have elections in the Gaeltacht areas. The previous elections to Údarás na Gaeltachta were postponed two years ago. This issue predates the decision on Dáil by-elections reached in a case taken by the then Senator Pearse Doherty. I wonder if the Government can persist with this position, given that the decision by Mr. Justice Kerins in the Doherty case was that elections were not discretionary. In the case of Gaeltacht elections, the proposal disenfranchises 91,000 people, of whom 23,000 are living in County Donegal, 1,000 in County Meath, 43,000 in County Galway-----