Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom freisin fáilte a chur roimh an tuarascáil a foilsíodh inniu, Direct Provision: Framing an alternative reception system for people seeking international protection. B'fhéidir go mbeadh díospóireacht againn faoi sin lá níos faide anonn. I congratulate the Irish Refugee Council, which is celebrating 21 years in operation this year, on the publication of the report, as referred to by Senator Aideen Hayden. It is arguing in this document for basic human rights agus ceann de na cearta atá á shárú ar bhealach náireach i láthair na huaire ná cearta na saoránaigh maidir leis an nGaeilge a úsáid sa Státchóras.

Ba mhaith liom cuidiú leis an leasú atá molta ar Riar na hOibre. I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by my colleague, Senator David Cullinane, go n-iarradh muid ar Aire na Gaeltachta teacht isteach inniu le plé a dhéanamh ar chás náireach an Coimisinéir Teanga. I am totally taken aback by how lightly the Government is taking the issue of the resignation of the Coimisinéir Teanga, Mr. Seán Ó Cuirreáin. He was appointed to the role under presidential seal and is in the position of an ombudsman. In fact, it is the first time in the history of the State that an ombudsman has seen fit to resign on a point of principle, namely, that he is not getting the support he requires from the Government to do what he needs to do in upholding the law of the land. This is an incredibly serious issue which the Government should be taking much more seriously. We need an urgent debate with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to explain why this happened and why the Minister did not reassure the commissioner that he would put in place the necessary resources. It is not even necessarily a question of money; it is more about support from Departments and via Government policy to allow the coimisinéir to do his work properly. I am calling for that debate today. Tá súil agam go dtógfaidh an Ceannaire an cheist iontach tromchúiseach seo dáiríre. Déanadh beag-is-fiú dó an tseachtain seo caite. Ba mhaith linn go dtabharfadh an aird is cóir dó.