Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total funding made available by his Department each year for the maintenance of the Gaelic language.
§ Mr. LangIn the current financial year some £306,000 will be provided, by my Department, as grant aid under the provisions of the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985 to bodies that support Gaelic. A further £1.2 million will be spent on projects under the specific grants scheme for Gaelic education. From 1992–93 the Scottish Office will provide £8 million for the establishment of a Gaelic television fund which will be used to make an additional 200 hours of Gaelic television programming to be broadcast annually on top of the 100 hours currently transmitted by the television companies in Scotland.