IRISH-LANGUAGE organisations need to co-operate in an effort to reduce costs, the chief executive of Foras na Gaeilge, the body which disperses public funds to the sector, has said.
Foras na Gaeilge currently has a budget of €21 million of which more than €7 million is spent on the 19 language organisations.
They include Conradh na Gaeilge, Oireachtas na Gaeilge and Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge. The 19 organisations are spread between the North and South of Ireland.
Foras na Gaeilge has started a consultation process on a new funding model based on schemes rather than organisations. The organisations would have to apply for funding for arts schemes, youth schemes and so on.
Ferdie Mac an Fhailigh, CEO of Foras na Gaeilge, said there were “a large number of organisations and a degree of duplication”.
“In 2011 Foras approved €7.2 million for the 19 organisations: 59 per cent was spent on salaries and 15 per cent on administration.” But when Foras na Gaeilge proposed the establishment of co-operation committees to address these issues in the sector, the organisations “flatly refused” to take part.
“This is public money, and duplication and lack of co-operation are simply unacceptable in the current climate,” Mr Mac an Fhailigh said.
Responding, Gael Linn chief executive Antoine Ó Coileáin said: “What is being proposed is not a restructuring; it is the annihilation of the community and voluntary Irish language sector.
General secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge Julian de Spáinn said: “Foras na Gaeilge have done no audit on the services being provided by the Irish language organisations on how efficient or effective they are. They are not basing the new model of funding on any comprehensive strategy, rather on a hunch”.
