Údarás na Gaeltachta and NUI Galway have defended a decision to employ a former Údarás chief executive to raise funds for the university's Gaeltacht campuses.
Labour Party Gaeltacht spokesman Brian O'Shea has called for an inquiry into the granting of the contract, following a report this week on Nuacht TG4.
Mr O'Shea says he will be pressing Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív to seek a "thorough investigation" by the Comptroller and Auditor General of the procedures followed.
The part-time contract to raise private support for NUI Galway's four Gaeltacht campuses was taken up by former Údarás chief executive Ruan Ó Bric last November.
Acadamh na hOllscoiliochta na Gaeilge, as it is called, is to be developed at three established campuses at Carna and Carraroe in Co Galway, Gweedore, Co Donegal, and the planned fourth campus in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry, under a €52 million development plan.
The plan involves both State and private sector funding for capital and running costs, and Mr Ó Bric was charged with sourcing private monies. Some 60 per cent of his fee is being paid by Údarás.
Pádraig Ó hAolain, Mr Ó Bric's successor as Údarás chief executive, told The Irish Times that the acadamh courses were not funded by the Higher Education Authority as they were regarded as "off campus".
Under Údarás na Gaeltachta's training and development remit, it was agreed that the authority would finance training courses - as it had done for TG4 and was doing with Waterford Institute of Technology.
The authority was not involved in the capital development costs for the campuses, he stressed. Mr Ó Bric was entitled to three more years working in the public service, although he had retired as chief executive, Mr Ó hAolain said.
Peadar Mac an Iomaire, chief executive of the acadamh, said that the campuses would provide vital knowledge-based and language-centred courses to Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas to compensate for employment opportunities lost through the downturn in the manufacturing industry.
The budget for the project was split three ways between NUI Galway, fees and sponsorship by Údarás and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, he said.
Mr Mac an Iomaire said that Mr Ó Bric had considerable experience within Údarás and through his membership of the university governing body, and the "charisma" and contacts to raise vital private funds.
