Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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208. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has engaged with an institute (details supplied) regarding its obligation to adhere to section 5 (1)(c) of the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, in regard to its obligation to provide funding for fieldwork in order to carry out the requirement of a school to record spoken Irish; the actions he will take to ensure those who have participated in such projects receive the payments they are owed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26766/18]

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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209. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the action he has taken to support efforts to record spoken Irish to benefit the educational environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26767/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 208 and 209 together.

My Department allocates recurrent funding directly to a small number of institutions that are currently not under the designation of the HEA, including the institution referred to by the Deputy. However, the internal disbursement of that funding is then a matter for the individual institution. Such institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day to day affairs, including the allocation of all of its income (both public and private).

The institution referred to by the Deputy was established under legislation which underpins its statutory functions, including the 'phonetic investigation of existing Irish dialects and the recording of the living Irish speech'. In that context, the institution provides facilities for the furtherance of such advanced study and research and for the publication of the results of such study and research, which is facilitated, in part, by the funding allocated to it by the Department.