Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I echo the concern expressed by my colleague, Senator Ó Domhnaill. The Irish language groups that have contacted us indicated that there is considerable vagueness surrounding the Bill in one area relating to expenses. I have no wish to dwell too much on the reason the Minister of State wishes to abolish the elections. That will arise under a different amendment, which is questionable anyway. I am keen to hear the Minister of State's justification for it.

My understanding is that in the case of the board of Údarás, the saving in expenses incurred by each member over a five year period will amount to between €400,000 and €450,000. The Minister of State has not indicated exactly how much money will be given in terms of the resources. Further, he suggested that the Bill is budget neutral. I have no wish to labour the point but it seems that the Minister of State will expect many local language organisations in the various designated areas to fund this themselves. He has given no indication of how it will be funded. There is a need for the Minister of State to explain to the House exactly how he will resource it. The explanation seems to be altogether inadequate based on the figures given by Senator Ó Domhnaill in respect of one small part of what will be a larger designated area in An Spidéal.

The outcome of the decision of the Minister of State represents an issue as well. I realise this is scoring a political point and I make no apology for it. Based on the current configuration, the five members to be appointed from the local authorities will almost certainly come from the Government parties. This is because the councils in the areas currently designated under the údarás are all controlled by either Fine Gael or a combination of Fine Gael and the Labour Party. There is nothing in the Bill to indicate the view of the Minister of State on how these councils will nominate people. Will the Minister of State introduce a proportionality clause? This could operate in the same way as for elected members of local authorities who are nominated to regional assemblies. That system is based on proportionality rather than a majority. In other words there is a grouping of four councillors per member.