Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Deputy asking his question in the language I can understand.

I am very conscious of the value of supporting the provision of services in the Irish language to children at an early age and of the role early learning and care services can play in promoting Irish as a living language, which is the subject of the Deputy's comment.

My Department has committed to a range of actions under the five-year action plan for the Irish language from 2018 to 2022. The aim of these actions is to build on existing measures, supports and partnerships in the area of Irish-medium early years education and further improve supports and services.

These actions include the provision of information and supports on childcare to parents who are raising their children through Irish, the creation of two Irish language posts in the Department and the establishment of a baseline of supports for naíonraí that will inform future policy plans.

My Department has established a dedicated early years national oversight group that monitors the implementation of the early years specific actions contained in the action plan.

The many supports my Department offers are available to all early learning and care services, and efforts are being made to ensure improved communication with Irish-speaking childcare services. In respect of the forthcoming national childcare scheme, the website and parent application will be available in Irish.

Irish-speaking support staff are available to answer parental queries, and communications about the scheme are also available in Irish.

Training and materials for the access and inclusion model that helps children with a disability to participate in the ECCE scheme are available through Irish.

My Department remains committed to supporting services wishing to operate through the medium of Irish and will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders.

In that regard, I welcome the report recently launched by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands regarding the challenges associated with running Irish-medium childcare centres in the Gaeltacht.

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