Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Foras na Gaeilge provides many funding opportunities for voluntary and other groups to access funding to partake in Irish language activities and promote the Irish language generally. These include opportunities in the areas of youth activities, summer camps, the arts, festivals and literature, Irish-language networks and community development. Supports are also available for local businesses who might wish to create an Irish-language friendly environment in their workplace by using bilingual signage, for example. The Foras na Gaeilge website, www.forasnagaeilge.ie, contains a section on funding schemes which lists the opportunities currently open to applications and also those where the application deadline has passed. This is particularly useful to help local voluntary groups plan well ahead for next year for seasonal opportunities, such as summer camps, for example.

To give some idea of the scope of the work, some 68 summer camps throughout the island of Ireland received funding to support their work in 2021.

Forty-seven festivals and seven major arts events received funding and 36 communities received a commitment to funding over a three-year period.

My Department also provides funding to an ciste spreagtha, which is administered by Conradh na Gaeilge. A sum of €150,000 was made available for this initiative during 2022. After the few difficult years that community groups experienced during the pandemic, this funding was made available to organise community events through Irish, helping to re-energise the use of Irish at face-to-face events. This fund attracted a high level of interest from community groups; 171 applications were received by Conradh na Gaeilge under this scheme and funding was offered to 160 of the applicants. A wide range of events were organised with something suitable for all ages and all levels of Irish.

The Irish language supports schemes section in my Department directly funds a number of initiatives and projects with a voluntary element. Many of the initiatives funded under this scheme are managed by organisations with voluntary committees or in which voluntary work is a major component of the overall effort. These include Raidió Rí-Rá, Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, Gaillimh le Gaeilge, Gnó Mhaigh Eo, Cill Dara le Gaeilge and the Na Gaeil Óga GAA club. The Irish language supports schemes funding provision in 2022 is €6.45 million for current spending and €3.5 million for capital spending. I am pleased to confirm that this week's budget announcement has brought the current allocation under the Irish language supports schemes to €8.2 million for 2023.

See this speech in context