Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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163. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans for the Ráth Cairn Gaeltacht in County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2063/17]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the Gaeltacht Act 2012 gives statutory effect to the language planning process under which language plans may be prepared at community level in areas to be recognised under the Act as Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, Gaeltacht Service Towns or Irish Language Networks. In the case of all Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, including Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib in Co. Meath, organisations will be given up to 2 years from the date on which they are selected by Údarás na Gaeltachta to submit a language plan to me, as Minister, for approval in line with language planning criteria prescribed under section 12 of the Act.

Once a plan has been approved under the Act, organisations will be given 7 years in which to implement same with the assistance of Údarás na Gaeltachta. My Department will periodically review the implementation of these plans during this period.  It is anticipated that the language plan in respect of Ráth Chairn agus Baile Ghib will be submitted for approval under the process by March 2018.

Insofar as all Gaeltacht areas are concerned, including Gaeltacht na Mí, the Deputy should also be aware that both my Department and Údarás na Gaeltachta administer a wide range of schemes, initiatives and programmes through which financial support is provided to assist in the implementation, at Gaeltacht community level, of practical actions, interventions, initiatives and projects which have as their core objective the maintenance and development of Irish as the community language of the Gaeltacht.