LACK OF funding is not the problem in the case of the Irish language newspaper Foinse(Source) which is in danger of closing down, Minister for the Gaeltacht Eamon Ó Cuív has told the Dáil.

During question time he insisted that Foras na Gaeilge, which funds the State’s only Irish language newspaper, “has never said that it does not have enough money”.

Mr Ó Cuív said that while Foras, the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language, had to ensure value for money “they have never raised a shortage of funds with me”.

He added that it was not true that there was a drop in the grant from the organisation, but that “they have set a ceiling”.

The Minister was responding to Fine Gael’s Gaeltacht spokesman Dinny McGinley, who insisted that Mr Ó Cuív could play a greater role in saving the paper, whose publishers last week announced that the grant from Foras was not sufficient to continue operating.

Mr McGinley said the paper was in crisis, and “there is now no guarantee that it will be available for more than one more week”.

He asked: “Will the Minister ensure that Foras na Gaeilge has enough money to guarantee continuation of the paper?”

Mr Ó Cuív stressed the importance of an Irish language newspaper, and said that he would emphasise this in a meeting with Foras.

However, he pointed out that a Minister could not interfere in a bid for a public tender.

“It is important that Foras na Gaeilge follows proper rules for public contracts and that I should not interfere.

“If I did you would be the first up to say so,” he said to Mr McGinley.

Mr Ó Cuív said that Foras had offered a contract to a particular company, “advertised as up to 400,000, but after reviewing bid Foras na Gaeilge decided to award a smaller grant”.