Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the level of public funding given by him to subsidise and support the network of Irish summer colleges in 2011; the budgetary provision, if any, that has been made for 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8641/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In 2011, my Department paid a total of €868,440 to the Irish Summer Colleges in respect of student primary teachers and provision has been made for a similar amount of expenditure in 2012.

As part of the Government's budgetary considerations and the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, a decision was made to abolish the payment of grants by this Department to the Gaeltacht Colleges towards the cost of student teachers' attendance at Gaeltacht courses. The cost of attendance at the courses will, from the commencement of the 2012/13 academic year, not be met by this Department as priority has been given to protecting resources for front line services as far as possible in the coming years.