Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

As I said, I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this. It is really important that we discuss the funding and vision for our national tongue here in our Parliament. Up to now, it has really been a groundswell of support. Some counties are doing fantastic while others do not have the same opportunities. For example, in County Monaghan, for example, there are four national schools and one secondary school. I do not think I would be wrong in saying those national schools have been championed for years by people like Brendan O’Duffy. A new Gaelscoil will open in Castleblaney in the coming weeks. That is how it should be so that in all our towns, all parents have the option of having their children go through school with Irish as their principal language and having their primary education in that. I wholeheartedly agree with that. Then coming to my county, County Cavan, it has only one primary school and we do not have that secondary school. Again, there are people like Pádraig Ó Cuinneagáin have done enormous work in championing that from the ground up. We have, of course, a responsibility as a government to make sure that the people who are so passionate about it are facilitated and enabled whether it is primary schools, Gaeltacht areas in the local area and having public services through their local authorities. Having all that in place is incredibly important. The protest we saw at the weekend demonstrates to me how passionately people feel about it. It was heartening to see that.

As I pointed out earlier, the Government in this jurisdiction cannot unilaterally amend the budgets or the funding ratios of the North-South implementation bodies. There are obviously issues as regards the funding arrangements for Foras na Gaelige. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, is acutely aware of these issues. In light of this he has requested that his officials keep in regular contact with their counterparts in the Department for communities in an effort to resolve the matter. Government investment in the Irish language and the Gaeltacht has seen major increases over the last five years with the baseline funding doubling since 2020. I am sure the Deputy and I are on the same page in saying that we need more for the organisations on the ground. I welcome the Gaelbhratach scheme where schools which are not Gaelscoils have every opportunity to nurture our native tongue in everyday scenarios in their classrooms and we want to see more of that.

While Foras na Gaelige has not been able to benefit directly from the funding I alluded to, the Government has initiated various schemes and programmes to ensure the funding reaches the organisations working on the ground with the Irish language and Gaeltacht communities across the country. The Minister has serious ambitions for his Department. He is a Gaelgeoir himself. Unfortunately, I only have a cúpla focail but I always make the effort where I can. It is great that the Minister is so proficient with the language. He is a great advocate for it too. He has serious ambition for the Department over the course of the programme for Government and he has the full support of the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the coalition partners in that regard. I have no doubt that the Minister will be kicking down doors to ensure there is an increase in the allocation for the Gaeltacht and the Irish language in budget 2026.

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