Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo chuid ama a roinnt. Tógfaidh mé dhá nóiméad agus tógfaidh an Seanadóír Devine nóiméad amháin. Cuirim míle fáilte roimh an Taoiseach. Caithfidh mé a admháil go raibh díomá orm nach raibh tagairt dá laghad, i ndáiríre, do chúrsaí Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta san óráid a thug sé. An fáth a bhfuil díomá orm, ar bhealach, ná gurb é an Taoiseach atá i gceannas ar straitéis an Rialtais ó thaobh na Gaeilge de. Is é an Taoiseach an cathaoirleach ar an gcomhchoiste idir-rannach maidir leis an nGaeilge agus an Ghaeltacht agus is é sin an coiste atá in ainm is a bheith ag cur Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge i bhfeidhm. Is dóigh liom nach bhfuil an Taoiseach ag tabhairt dea-shampla sa mhéid sin os rud é nár dúirt sé focal ar bith faoin straitéis sin ná faoi diongbháilteacht an Rialtais maidir leis.

Tá daoine amuigh ar an talamh ag rá gurb iad na Rialtais a bhí faoi chúram an Taoisigh na Rialtais ba mheasa a bhí ann ariamh ó thaobh na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta de. Chonaic muid lagú ar Acht Údarás na Gaeltachta ar an mbord a bhí ann agus ar an maoiniú atá ar fáil dó. Táimid ag feiceáil straitéise in ndáiríre nach bhfuil á chur i bhfeidhm mar is ceart. Ní léir go bhfuil aon tacaíocht ag go leor de na Ranna Rialtais don straitéis céanna. Bhí an Rialtas ag iarraidh Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla a chur os ár gcomhair a bhí lag agus ag lagú cearta lucht na Gaeilge. Ba mhaith liom dá ndíreodh an Taoiseach ar sin sa tréimhse atá aige mar Thaoiseach leis an méid sin a chur ina cheart.

As a man from the west of Ireland, there were many expectations of the Taoiseach that things would improve in the west. However, I am afraid that in Galway, being the fourth largest city, people are disappointed at the difficulties they face and that more has not been done under the Taoiseach's watch for the people of Galway. There is a massive crisis in the respect of the accident and emergency service. The Taoiseach visited in 2015 and stated the accident and emergency unit in University Hospital Galway was not fit for purpose but 33 people are still on trolleys in that unit today. I have asked the Minister for Health to consider the possibility of building a new hospital in Galway. While he is completely non-committal, I ask the Taoiseach to commit to at least giving consideration to that proposal now that senior clinicians in Galway are calling for it.

As for the traffic issue in Galway, where the former Minister for Health who is now a Member of this House once got stuck and was obliged to walk to meetings in the city, it is in absolute chaos and nothing really has been done to address that. Moreover, the homelessness crisis in Galway is absolutely diabolical with 56 families and 133 children left homeless this year. Galway and the west of Ireland need a much stronger focus from the Taoiseach to bring us back to where we need to be.

Go raibh míle maith agat. Tabharfaidh mé an t-am eile don Seanadóir Devine.