Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. No more than was the case in his area, busloads of people left Cavan-Monaghan at the weekend to support all things Irish language. It is heartening to hear. The Deputy is right. There is a groundswell of support for the Irish language and for seeing it adequately and properly funded as our national tongue. A day of protest, as the Deputy alluded to, was held last weekend by Irish language and Gaeltacht organisations from across the island, North and South, to highlight a range of issues, including funding for the language, language rights in the North, the implementation of the language legislation and access to public services and housing in the Gaeltacht.

Levels of funding for Foras na Gaeilge are a source of frustration for six main lead organisations in the Irish language sector as they receive core funding from Foras na Gaeilge. The Irish Government provides 75% of Foras na Gaeilge's approved budget annually with the remaining 25% coming from the Northern Ireland Executive in accordance with the funding ratio agreed with the North-South language body as established. Funding for the North-South language body, including Foras na Gaeilge is approved by the North-South Ministerial Council and requires matched funding to be agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive. The Irish Government cannot unilaterally amend the budgets or ratios of the North-South implementation bodies, but the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is acutely aware of the different economic and political circumstances that exist in the two jurisdictions. Officials from the sponsoring Departments in both jurisdictions are in weekly contact at this stage in an effort to resolve the issue.

Notwithstanding this, the Irish Government has provided significant additional funding to the Irish language and the Gaeltacht each year since 2020, with baseline funding doubling in the past five years. While Foras na Gaeilge has not been able to benefit directly from this, the Department has initiated a variety of schemes and programmes to ensure the funding reaches the organisations working on the ground with Irish language and Gaeltacht communities across the country. A significant amount of funding is being provided to some of the Irish language led organisations, which are also part-funded by Foras na Gaeilge. The Government has also approved over €2 million in additional funding for Foras na Gaeilge to specifically support the Irish language publishing sector under Clár na Leabhar Gaeilge, a programme that is not subject to co-funding arrangements and is entirely funded by the Irish Government. The Government has also approved significant funding for a series of initiatives being delivered by local organisations including Conradh na Gaeilge, Glór na nGael and Gael Linn, which receive core funding from Foras na Gaeilge, but are limited by the financial challenges with it. This funding is helping to alleviate some of the financial challenges faced by the leading organisations.

Initiatives currently funded by the Government include the Gaelbhratach scheme for schools. Glór na nGael is promoting the use of Irish in the home. We have the latter, the careers roadshow for schools and universities and clár céad míle fáilte, which introduces migrant communities to the language, funding to provide an Irish-medium early years sector and Oireachtas na Gaeilge, which gets significant funding to develop language-based arts and the Irish language Network for the Public Service.

I had the pleasure of visiting a little national school in Munterconnaught in my county. The principal, Mr. Vincent Mulvey, and his team have done incredible work, in particular on the programme where pupils are encouraged to use the Irish language. It is not a Gaelscoil, but the idea is to introduce their native tongue for simple everyday use, whether it is to go to the toilet, do their activities or whatever. Those kinds of schemes are having a real-life impact.

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