Words really did fail us when we saw for ourselves the quite extraordinary shambles revealed last week when the flaws and frailties of Bord na Gaidhlig were revealed under parliamentary scrutiny. It is obvious that this organisation has been running amok since it was established and that Scottish (Nationalist) Government scrutiny of the Bord has been non-existent. It has taken us a week to regain our breath.
The Bord consists of a Chairman and five members all appointed by The Scottish Ministers. That all appointments to the Bord should be by the Scottish Ministers is, of course, a weakness in itself. The Bord's functions are, obviously, the promotion of the Gaelic language.
The Bord is based in Inverness with 19 of a staff and an annual budget from the Government (euphemistically called Grant-in-Aid) of £5,500,000. That's a lot of money. The Bord has (a) an Audit and Assurance Committee and (b) a Policy and Resources Committee. Quite what those two committees are supposed to do is a mystery but, at least, so far, so good.
We now wander down the hierarchy a bit and here it gets confusing, very confusing. The operating head of the Bord is the Chief Executive or, if you're a Gaelic Luvvie, the Ceannard. Below the Ceannard we have (1) Director of Gaelic Education (2) Director of Language Planning and Community Developments (3) Head of Finance and (4) Head of Corporate Services. Fancy titles indeed and all earning between £65,000 and £95,000!!!!! Quite what those people do to justify their salaries is anyone's guess.
All Chiefs and no Indians. No wonder the Auditor-General for Scotland, Caroline Gardner, slammed the Bord in a recent report following audit. If it were left to us, the Scottish Ministers and the Bord would be gone overnight.
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