The National Development Plan discriminates against Gaeltachta∅, providing just one third of the money required for economic and social development, according to a report commissioned by ┌darβs na Gaeltachta.
Mr Padraig ╙ hAolβin, deputy chief executive of ┌daras, said the Gaeltacht has been mistakenly perceived as being in receipt of a high level of grants and "mollycoddling" by State support.
However, he said the new report found that the Gaeltacht faced a significant disadvantage in trying to attract modern service industry, due to poor telecommunications, transport and social infrastructure.
Mr ╙ hAolβin said the range and scale of infrastructure required means the investment challenge goes far beyond the resources and remit of ┌darβs and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.
Arguing that expenditure on necessary infrastructure should always be justified on the basis of best economic return, he said a more holistic view was needed and that we must "consider such things as the social payback, or, in the case of our particular objective, language maintenance. State intervention to rebalance the imbalance in the regions is vital".
He added that the position of the Irish language was being "diminished and undermined by poor economic development, resulting in the weakening of the very communities that the language is depending on to survive as a community language".
