Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the supports she is providing for naoínraí. [49985/25]

Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister give an update on the supports being provided for naíonraí?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The funding provided by the Department for early learning and care, ELC, and school-aged childcare services is provided on the same basis to both Irish medium and English medium services, whether inside or outside Gaeltacht areas. In line with commitments in the five-year action plan for the Irish language, the Department recruited an Irish language support co-ordinator in 2020 to drive the development of a national plan. It has provided funding since 2023 to Better Start to recruit an Irish language early years specialist to support mentoring and advice to Irish medium ELC settings. The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht provides additional supports for Irish medium ELC services in the Gaeltacht through its agencies and organisations such as Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta. In addition, in June 2024, the Department's predecessor with responsibility for the Irish language, announced five-year funding to provide a comprehensive support and development service to naíonraí outside of the Gaeltacht to be administered by Gaeloideachas.

Furthermore, my own Department has provided funding to Gaeloideachas in 2025 to support Irish medium ELC settings. Additionally, the Department is currently working in collaboration with other relevant Departments and agencies to develop a national plan to further the development of Irish language provision in the ELC and the school-age childcare sector. The development of such a plan is a commitment in the five-year action plan for the Irish language. The national plan is expected to support the delivery of two commitments in First Five, the whole-of-government strategy for babies, young children and their families: to introduce measures to ensure children in Gaeltacht areas have access to Irish medium ELC provision and to develop mechanisms to provide Irish language supports to ELC provision where huge proportions of children are learning through the medium of Irish.

Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for her comments and for recognising the importance of naíonraí in our communities. As a TD for Meath, which has two of the only Gaeltacht areas in Leinster, namely Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib, the importance of the Irish language and culture is not lost on me. We have some quality settings in the Gaeltacht area, for example, in Navan. At present, thankfully, we are seeing the Irish language under the spotlight like we have not for a while. The importance of speaking the language and being proud of it is coming to the fore. Naíonraí provide the best start for children who we want to be at least bilingual. Full immersion has significant and long-lasting benefits for our children. We all understand the pressures on our early education settings, including attracting and retaining staff. It is my belief that those who are fluent Irish speakers should be given extra incentives to work in early education.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I know this is a matter close to her heart. As she has articulated so well in the context of her constituency, it is of particular importance given the Gaeltacht provision. The national plan is particularly important in advancing the supports and the vision we have for naíonraí. I agree with the Deputy that the earlier we can support the language and ensure our children have access to and experience of it, the better it is in the long term.

The plan, to outline it, will support the delivery of the commitments in the programme for Government. There is a specific commitment in the programme for Government to directly support naíonraí and crèches to ensure early education access in Gaeltacht communities and beyond, and plan the development of State-led facilities in tandem with the school building programme, including Irish-medium naíonraí. There are specific commitments in the programme for Government.

In addition to the focus on Irish-medium ELC and SAC services, it is anticipated that the new national plan will also include measures to support English-medium early learning and care services to work within the updated Aistear early childhood curriculum framework, which was published in December 2024.