Seo í an uair dheireanach a labhróidh mé sa Dáil. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle agus an fhoireann uile atá sa Teach seo as ucht na hoibre ar fad a dhéanann siad agus an bealach ina gcaitheann siad linn i gcónaí. Tá siad go deas réchúiseach, tuisceanach agus stuama.

Mar is eol don Tánaiste, níor aontaigh mé riamh leis an gcinneadh a rinneadh sa bhliain 2012 fáil réidh le hionadaíocht thofa ar bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta. Cuireadh ann é den chéad uair in 1979. Tá a fhios agam go ndearna an tAire Airgeadais, nuair a bhí sé ina Aire Stáit don Ghaeltacht, agus an tAire Stáit reatha, an Teachta Thomas Byrne, go leor oibre ar Bhille Údarás na Gaeltachta. An cheist atá agam ná, ar tharla nár ritheadh an Bille sin ina Acht agus tá sí ar Chéim an Choiste, má thoghtar an Tánaiste arís, an bhfuil sé i gceist ag an Rialtas geallúint a thabhairt go leanfar leis an mBille sin san Oireachtas san áit ar thosaigh sé ag scor na Dála seo? Tá imní ar an bpobal ar fud na Gaeltachta faoi.

Ar dtús báire, táim sásta geallúint a thabhairt go leanfar ar aghaidh leis an reachtaíocht sin. Sula dtéimid isteach in aon rialtas eile, ba chóir don Teachta bheith cinnte nach mbeimid ar an taobh seo den Teach ag dul isteach i rialtas gan an gheallúint a bheith laistigh den chlár Rialtais nua go gcríochnófar an Bille seo agus é a chur i bhfeidhm. Mar aon leis sin, gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Ó Cuív as ucht an méid seirbhíse atá tugtha aige mar Theachta Dála agus mar Aire i rith na mblianta. Is Teachta Dála den scoth é an Teachta Ó Cuív agus ba Aire den scoth é chomh maith.

For the benefit of those not as proficient in Irish, I want to pay tribute to Deputy Ó Cuív for his outstanding parliamentary service to this country over quite a number of years and as a Minister. I have never come across a Minister, in particular a Minister for rural affairs - he was the champion of the creation of that Department – who could leverage funding from every other Department. He would inevitably come up with 2% of the eventual allocation of what he was looking for, but he always got it. Whether it was for a school on an island, a medical facility or whatever, he would always make a compelling case for it and I would suggest to Deputy Shanahan that perhaps he is a good role model in terms of leveraging from the system, working with Ministers and so on. He created an art form in terms of having that capacity.

I was in An Spidéal in Connemara the other day. One could feel the affection for Deputy Ó Cuív, the loyalty to him and the sense of the community being proud of who they elected to Dáil Éireann to represent them, go háirithe duine a bhfuil cumas na Gaeilge aige agus atá báúil do na Gaeltachtaí agus teanga na tíre.