I am being careful and I have repeated this outside this House in print as well.

I am just finishing.

I will ask them again in parliamentary questions, as I have.

I can finish by saying that the Dublin city manager agreed that these figures were involved. I can ask the Minister whether he agreed that €300,000 was being set aside kind of to pay traders. It is a simple question. There are no allegations. Were there conditions tied to those payments? Was the Minister aware that Dublin City Council was also going to give up a similar figure? This is the city manager. In print, he named himself. I did not name him or bring him into the question at all.

There needs to be an investigation of that. I will send the Minister a note. I sent it to his junior Minister in the hope that he would at least initiate an investigation, but he did not do so.

I have his answers-----

-----in parliamentary questions as well. He has sent them back.

Varadkar.

We could start by sitting on a Tuesday morning.

Seanad Éireann has passed the EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022 without amendment.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 11, line 28, to delete “the Higher Education Authority Act” and substitute “Údarás um Ard-Oideachas Act”. Tá na leasuithe seo faoin nGaeilge. Rinneamar leasuithe ar an ábhar seo a phlé ar Chéim an Choiste agus chuir mé iad arís toisc nach raibh leasuithe ón Aire feicthe agam. We made a number of proposals on Committee Stage. I resubmitted most of those amendments because I had not seen the Minister's amendments, some of which are in this large grouping. The primary aim underlying ame…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as na leasuithe a mhol sé. We have come a long way and I acknowledge the large amount of work that has been done in moving towards a Bill that is much more acceptable in terms of promotion of the Irish language. However, there are areas where I still disagree with the Minister. Even at this stage, he could go a little further in line with the provisions of the Official Languages Act, as amended. In amendment No. 29, for example, I am asking that the title of a new institution - the nat…

I ran out of time.

I will not delay the proceedings. I just want to ask that the Minister look again at amendment No. 29 on oifig na bprintíseachtaí before the Stages in the Seanad to make sure that fully complies. The understanding I had was that the names of any new State institutions being set up would first have the Irish-language version. It was not that they were exclusively so but it was first. It is a minor change but as we know, once the title of an institution, or even the abbreviations, get into people's parlance it is har…

I move amendment No. 22: In page 17, line 32, after “information” to insert the following: “, including specific information on the funding for, and numbers engaged in, study and research through the medium of Irish,”.

I will speak to amendment No. 26. I mentioned earlier that the intention of this amendment is to ensure that "not less than one of the persons appointed ... shall be representative for the interests of the Gaeltacht [or the] Irish language speaking community". It is important that we give due recognition to that in any group of appointments, given what we are trying to achieve with this legislation, namely, the interests of the Irish language and the interests of education in the country in the future. It is partic…

I acknowledge section 16(2)(a)(ii) where the Irish language is specifically mentioned and which requires the Minister to take cognisance of the section when appointing people to the 12-person board. I was initially of the view that a certain percentage of the board should comprise people who have competence in the Irish language but in the amendment we have tabled, we are asking that one of the 12 would be a representative for those interests, as we outlined, for the very reasons I have outlined. There is a conside…

I move amendment No. 28: In page 21, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “(11) The Joint Oireachtas Committee responsible for matters relating to the Irish language shall, no earlier than four years and no later than five years following the establishment of An tÚdarás, examine the representation of the Irish speaking community among Ministerial appointments to the positions on the Board of, and in other roles on, the Higher Education Authority, and prepare and publish a report on the benefits and feasi…

Ba mhaith liom a fhiafraí den Aire cén fáth go bhfuil moill le feidhmiú Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2021, a ritheadh sa Teach seo roimh Nollaig anuraidh agus a sínigh an tUachtarán ar an 21 Nollaig 2021. Dúradh linn ag an am go mbeadh feidhm iomlán leis an reachtaíocht seo agus is léir nach bhfuil.

Thuig mé i gcónaí nach thar oíche a tharlódh seo ná an plean náisiúnta. Rinneamar dul chun cinn mór nuair a rinneamar an reachtaíocht a aontú anseo agus nuair a rinne an tUachtarán é a shíniú. Dúirt an tAire Stáit ansin go mbeidh an coiste comhairleach ann go gairid. Is trua an moill seo. Mar is cuimhin leis an Aire Stáit, sa díospóireacht dúirt muidne trí mhí agus dúirt sé féin sé mhí ach go mbeadh an coiste ann roimh dheireadh na tréimhse sin. Ar a laghad, beidh sé le fógairt i gceann seachtaine. Dúirt sé freisin…