
It is anticipated its name will now be changed to Údarás na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta stressing its role in supporting the Irish language in line with the 20 year strategy.
There are 7,074 people employed in companies supported by Udaras accounting for 20% of all Gaeltacht jobs.
Údarás na Gaeltachta has seen considerable reductions in its budget over the past number of years with its 2008 budget of €22.5m being reduced to €10.2m this year.
Commenting on the anticipated change yesterday (Thursday), Cllr David Alcorn, who is a member of the board of Udaras, said there has been a lot of speculation in recent days.
“If Údarás lose its job creation function it will tear the heart out of the organisation. I checked with board members and no one has the story yet so we have to wait for the Minister tomorrow.
“I have no doubt that Minister McGinley is 100 per cent committed to the Gaeltacht and to the Irish language. This is obviously a government decision. I would hope on the eve of that meeting that Údarás would be able to retain that function for the year to come.
in recognition of the excellent work the organisation has done,” Cllr Alcorn added.
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