Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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422. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the current status of the language assistants' scheme operating in the Gaeltacht; if this will be extended to all Irish medium schools; and if he will have an indicative timeframe should such an extension be granted. [8322/14]

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Language Assistants Scheme (Scéim na gCúntóirí Teanga) was established as a pilot scheme in 1999 to strengthen the use of Irish as the spoken language among Gaeltacht schoolchildren. It was originally targeted at students with little or no Irish to enable them to follow the curriculum in Gaeltacht schools. My Department pays a grant to the organisations that administer the scheme at local level in the various Gaeltacht regions. An amount of €724,275 has been sanctioned for the current school year and a total of 85 language assistants are employed on a part-time basis under the scheme. Their duties now also include enriching the vocabulary of those students whose home language is Irish. Since the 2011/12 school year, I have sanctioned an increased allocation of €150,000 under the scheme which helps to provide extra contact hours as well as facilitating other improvements in the scheme. This extra allocation further supports the substantial number of Gaeltacht schoolchildren who benefit from the scheme.

While the operation of the scheme is reviewed on a regular basis, there are no plans at present to extend its scope. The Deputy will be aware that Gaelscoileanna is the national, voluntary organisation that provides advice and support for the development of Irish-medium schools at primary and at post-primary level. The organisation is funded by Foras na Gaeilge and has recently been selected as the lead organisation to be responsible for Irish-medium/immersion education and Irish-medium preschool education on an all-island basis as part of Foras na Gaeilge’s new funding arrangements for Irish language organisations.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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423. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if planning for the measures of increasing Irish language awareness and language training so as to enable a strengthened and consolidated service provision by public service staff through the Irish language, as envisaged in the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language, has commenced; and if there are any plans to introduce any such measures in the first phase of the strategy. [8323/14]

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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In order to strengthen my Department’s mandate in respect of the public service generally as outlined in the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) has been put in place between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for the provision of Irish language training services and Irish language proficiency testing to Government Departments/Offices and certain public service organisations. The purpose of this SLA is to enhance the capacity of staff in the civil service and certain public service organisations to deliver Irish language services and to provide an accredited proficiency testing regime for civil servants. In tandem with this SLA, it should be noted that Foras na Gaeilge has a three year contract in place since November 2011 with a company, Gaelchultúr, for the provision of Irish language training for the public service.

In summary, I am satisfied that these measures are helping to increase the level and standard of services in Irish provided by public bodies.