By way of update, I can confirm from talking to my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, that over 300 accommodations which were in use by the Department, directly or through local authorities, for the beneficiaries of temporary protection since the commencement of the Ukraine crisis are no longer being used as of mid-April. Of these, over 40 are hotels with approximately 1,500 beds associated, and another 90 are categorised as bed and breakfast accommodation, guesthouses or hostels, with around 2,000 beds. The…

Mar Aire Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán, fáiltím roimh an deis labhairt leis na Baill anseo inniu sa Seanad, go háirithe agus muid ag cur tús le Seachtain na Gaeilge 2024. Is seoid í ár dteanga. Chun a chinntiú go mbeidh ár dteanga ag an gcéad ghlúin eile, ní mór dúinne go léir atá compordach le hí a labhairt, í a labhairt. Fad is atáimid ag labhairt faoin nGaeilge, máthair theanga ag mórán, is fiú tagairt a dhéanamh do Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan. Beimid ag ceiliúradh an lá seo, Lá Idi…

Mar Aire Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán, fáiltím roimh an deis labhairt inniu i nDáil Éireann, go háirithe agus muid ag cur tús le Seachtain na Gaeilge 2024. Is seoid í ár dteanga. Chun beocht a choimeád inti, ní mór dúinn, mar ionadaithe poiblí, í a labhairt. Le linn na seachtaine seo, déanaimis iarracht aon chomhrá a bhíonn againn a thosú as Gaeilge. Mar Aire, táim tiomanta don Ghaeilge agus do phobal labhartha na teanga. Tá réimse leathan freagrachtaí ar mo Roinn maidir leis an nG…

Fáiltím roimh an deis seo labhairt os comhair na Dála inniu. I welcome the opportunity to address Dáil Éireann today. This House first heard statements on the issues arising in RTÉ on 4 July last year. I said then that although I did not underestimate the difficult path that lay ahead for RTÉ, I was confident that trust could be restored if all involved demonstrated a commitment to the public good that ultimately lies at the heart of public service broadcasting. In that regard, I acknowledge at the outset that I am…

Regrettably, the chair did submit her resignation. I again put on the record of this House my genuine appreciation for the significant contribution Ms Ní Raghallaigh made to the process to reform RTÉ over a relatively short space of time. We must now, however, redouble our efforts on the rebuilding of trust in RTÉ.

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis na Teachtaí as a gcuid rannpháirtíochta ar an gceist seo inniu. Tá sé tábhachtach díospóireacht a bheith againn sa Dáil ar gach aon rud a bhaineann le cúrsaí na meáin agus an craoltóir náisiúnta. Tá todhchaí an craoltóir náisiúnta thar a bheith tábhachtach agus tá mise tiomanta mar Aire na meáin cinneadh a dhéanamh maidir leis an gceist ar mhaoiniú seachtrach fadtéarmach. I am confident that we are all as one on the importance of addressing the wider issues of trust in RTÉ an…

-----but I did it clearly at the committee. I offered to furnish a detailed note on every conversation that occurred with the officials and chair on Thursday. I am happy to provide that and the committee will have it. I stated clearly the timeline of last Thursday’s communications with my Department and I offered to share with the committee the note taken of those communications. I will meet the board this week. For that meeting, it has already been flagged that the focus will be on moving forward together. That is…

I think it is important that we end on a positive note. I believe that each and every person here values public service media. In response to some comments made today, I would like to put on the record the incredible work that is done by the staff in RTÉ. We saw, especially through Covid, high-quality, trustworthy, reliable information in a difficult situation. We all appreciated that and we still do. It is incredibly important in this day and age that we have access to reliable, trustworthy information. I would li…

I thank Deputy Costello for bringing forward this Bill. I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. The Government will not be opposing the Bill and will allow it to progress for detailed debate on Committee Stage. While the intention when it comes to the Bill is laudable, and I agree with the principle behind it, there are number of difficulties which may arise from application of the Bill if enacted. That said, this is a subject worthy of debate. Before outlining these difficulties, I reiterate that I agree with th…

The report into Toy Show The Musical highlights serious failings in governance oversight, financial management and appropriate control procedures with regard to the project. The facts the report sets out are clearly very disappointing and confirm what was already known, which is that there were failings of proper oversight and an absence of interrogation of the project by the board. This speaks again to the culture within RTÉ at that time and the dysfunction that existed between the board and senior management. Sin…

To address the Deputy's first issue, the Department of Social Protection is continuing a scope investigation into the classification and potential reclassification of a group of contractors at RTÉ and, as with other HR matters at RTÉ, neither I nor my Department have any involvement in that process. It is a historic review examining status and, consequently, PRSI classification of different groups of workers over a long period of time looking at approximately 700 people. In many cases, those involved will no longer…

Both the McCann Fitzgerald report and yesterday's committee hearing have brought more clarity to the questions of the approval of the exit package for Ms O'Keeffe. As I said, the report does show that proper approval procedures were agreed and were applied in most cases but there was one exception to this. It is important that yesterday the head of HR did appear before the committee for accountability. The other key players really need to come forward to the committees, and whether it is the case that they are unav…

Tá maoiniú dár luach €2 milliún ceadaithe do mo Roinn go dtí seo ó chiste an oileáin chomhroinnte. Tá sé seo dírithe ar thionscadail in earnáil na Gaeilge agus na hUltaise, ar mhaithe le tuiscint níos fearr a chothú ar oidhreacht teanga agus cultúir an oileáin ar fad. Tá an t-allúntas seo ar fáil le caitheamh idir seo agus deireadh na bliana seo chugainn. Anuas air sin, dár ndóigh, tá soláthar iomlán d’os cionn €18.7 milliún i Meastacháin mo Roinne i mbliana do chomhoibriú trasteorann chun tacú, ach go h-áirithe, l…

Mar a luaigh mé, agus mar a luaigh an tAire Stáit, i bhfreagra na ceiste ar an ábhar seo le déanaí, go dtí seo tá maoiniú dár luach €2 mhilliún ó chiste an oileáin chomhroinnte ceadaithe do mo Roinn trí chinneadh Rialtais. Mar is eol don Teachta, ceann de na haidhmeanna atá ag an tionscnamh oileáin chomhroinnte ná oiread leas agus is féidir a bhaint as na deiseanna ar fad a eascraíonn as Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta. Táthar ag iarraidh comhoibriú, caidreamh agus comhthuiscint a fheabhsú ar an oileán agus teagmháil a …

Mar a dúirt mé, tá soláthar iomlán d'os cionn €18.7 milliún i Meastacháin mo Roinne do chomhoibriú trasteorann le háirítear leathdhála ós cionn €18 milliún chun tacú le hobair an Fhorais Teanga chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn ar fud an oileáin agus chun feasacht agus úsáid níos leithne na hUltaise agus cultúr na hUltaise a chur chun cinn. Cuirfidh an Roinn os cionn €12.3 milliún ar fáil d'Fhoras na Gaeilge in 2024. Anuas air sin, tá €700,000 curtha ar fáil i mbuiséid 2024 don Fhoras Teanga Thuaidh-Theas. Cuirfear…

: Faoi réir chinneadh an Rialtais ag deireadh 2022, aontaíodh gur próiseas toghcháin agus roghnúcháin a bheidh ann in áit an phróisis ainmniúcháin agus roghnúcháin atá i bhfeidhm faoi láthair mar a bhaineann sé leis an gcaoi a cheaptar Bord Údarás na Gaeltachta. Faoin mBille um Údarás na Gaeltachta (Leasú) 2022 atá á bheartú chuige sin, is bord de 16 duine in áit 12 duine a bheadh ann nuair atá saolré an chéad bhord eile caite ag deireadh 2024. Faoin reachtaíocht leasaithe, in áit seachtar a bheith ainmnithe chuig …

Mar a dúirt mé, tá an obair a bhaineann leis an mBille ag dul ar aghaidh fós chun an toghchán a reáchtáil i Meitheamh 2024. Táim ag díriú fós ar thoghchán a bheith againn ar an lá céanna a bheidh na toghcháin áitiúla ar siúl i mbliana. Tugann an toghchán deis don phobal sa cheantar Gaeltachta ionadaithe a roghnú don bhord. Láidreoidh an próiseas seo an nasc idir an pobal agus Údarás na Gaeltachta agus tá sé fíorthábhachtach domsa agus do mo Roinn go mbeidh glór láidir ag muintir na Gaeltachta, agus is í seo bealach…

Mar a dúirt mé, tá an obair ar siúl ag mo Roinn agus bunófar coistí réigiúnacha a bheidh comhdhéanta de chomhaltaí an bhoird. Beidh sé mar chúram ag coistí réigiúnacha comhairle a chur ar an mbord maidir le saincheisteanna a bheidh ag déanamh scime do phobal na Gaeltachta.

The year 2024 marks 1,500 years since the death of St. Brigid, one of Ireland's three patron saints, who is traditionally commemorated each year on Lá 'le Bríde on 1 February. Since 2018, Tourism Ireland has supported Irish embassies and consulates across the world in marking St. Brigid’s Day by celebrating the creativity of women through a broad programme of events. The funding I secured in budget 2024 will allow Tourism Ireland to develop new marketing opportunities, such as St. Brigid’s Day, which help to extend…

I thank the Deputy. In Louth - home of the birthplace of St. Brigid - a remarkable project unfolded to commemorate the 1,500th anniversary of this beloved Irish saint. I congratulate Louth County Council on its Brigid 1500 festival that really captured the imagination of all those who attended, especially the large "northern lights" show that attracted an estimated 48,000 visitors in just a few days. Along with a large-scale street and theatre performance, on a smaller scale but equally as important, students from …