Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

While I have no direct responsibility for the school on Inishmaan, I will convey the Senator's comments to the relevant Department, an Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna.

D'iarr an Seanadóir Sean Barrett an bhfuil seasamh bunreachtúil ag an Bhille seo. He asked if it was constitutional and mentioned the Department of Justice and Law Reform. Like all other Bills, the Bill was circulated to all Departments and responses were received in due course. In addition, to copperfasten our stand, we referred the Bill to the Attorney General and there were no difficulties in that regard either. Therefore, from all the expert opinions available to me from the Department of Justice and Law Reform and the Ard Aigne, the Attorney General, the Bill is constitutional.

On the North-South issue, in the wake of the Anglo-Irish Agreement Foras na Gaeilge is responsible in this jurisdiction for promoting the Irish language outside Gaeltacht areas. It also has responsibility for fostering the Irish language in Northern Ireland. When the Bill was published, as a matter of courtesy, a copy was sent to the relevant Minister and Department in Northern Ireland. We do not have to do these things. I do not interfere with the Minister in Northern Ireland in the excellent work she is doing, apart from attending a number of events in Northern Ireland, at which I am always welcome. I attended the seoladh of the "Líofa" plan that I meantioned previously, under which the Minister in Northern Ireland wants to have 1,000 people signed up to learn Irish. Already the figure has exceeded 2,000. Good luck to her and we will give her all the support we can.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill should be aware that I have been to a number of places in Northern Ireland. I have been to Carntogher which could be a Gaeltacht area. However, I have no jurisdiction to declare it as such. Having said that, I have great admiration for what is being done there. It is only a number of months since I was in Maynooth, County Kildare, in a hotel adjacent to the seminary, in which Glór na nGael awarded prizes for the best effort made by any community north or south of the Border. I was very proud, as an Ulsterman, to give it to Strabane and Carntogher the previous year. We must give all those involved all the support we can.

In terms of meetings with the Minister in Northern Ireland, she has a perfect understanding of what we are doing. I admire what she is doing and vice versa. I know what my jurisdictionis and she knows hers, but we have the same aim - progressing the Irish language. Foras na Gaeilge has €21 million at its disposal this year for the promotion of the language, North and South. We contribute 75% of the fund. The Northern Government - Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh might like to call it "Westminster" - provides the remaining 25%.

We are not depriving any citizen of any right. Nuair a bunaíodh Údarás na Gaeltachta in 1979. As a result of the Act, we gave the people of the Gaeltacht the opportunity to vote. In the case of the new Údarás, there will be no direct voting. I gave the reasons for this. We will save €500,000 and so on. This does not apply to amendments Nos. 2, 3 and 110, but the discussion had become so broad I had to make a number of points. The right to vote was incorporated in an Act. The Bill, when enacted, will reconstitute and restructure Údarás na Gaeltachta. We have decided that there will be no provision for an election, but we are not depriving people of anything. If we were to say there would be no more county council, Seanad or Dáil elections-----