Calls for a democratically elected board or a partially elected board - and discontinuation of voting in City Gaeltacht areas are among the proposals in regard to the formation of the Údarás na Gaeltachta Authority in the future.
The proposal has come in through a public submissions process regarding the means of forming or selecting Údarás na Gaeltachta – the Gaeltacht Regions Authority, in the future.
There was a major change to the process of selecting the Údarás na Gaeltachta Board in 2012. Elections and nominations combined were the previous structure. Since then Co Councils with Gaeltacht regions select nominees for the Gaeltacht Authority. The remainder of the 12 members are nominated by the Gaeltacht Minister following a selection process.
The present Programme for Government included a commitment to review the process of forming the Board. Public submissions were invited.
In general, the submissions show broad support for an election combined with a Ministerial role in appointing a number of people.
However, Gaeltacht activist, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe from Indreabhán, states an election is needed but only within areas where Irish is clearly the daily language. Mr Ó hÉallaíthe states that areas in Galway City, that have Gaeltacht categorisation, should not be in the voting process.
There are calls from others to remove political parties from the process and another suggestion that it would be best to have members under 70 in the Údarás.
