Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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317. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide details of projected expenditure from the fund announced of €2.2 million to support eligible Gaeltacht families who normally provide accommodation for summer college students by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37997/21]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware I recently established a fund worth €2.2m to support eligible Gaeltacht families who normally provide accommodation for summer college students.

The funding is being made available on foot of the cancellation of Irish language courses in the Gaeltacht for the second summer in succession due to COVID-19. The decision was reached by consensus at the beginning of May to cancel Irish language courses in the Gaeltacht for this summer after I initiated a public consultation process involving discussions with key stakeholders within the sector, including the residential accommodation providers, to hear their opinions and recommendations on the matter.

Having had the opportunity to listen carefully to the representative group of Gaeltacht households who provide accommodation for the sector, as well as other key stakeholders, I am well aware of the particular challenges facing Gaeltacht communities.

As this is the second successive year that COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of the Irish language colleges for the summer, an increase of 25% over the amount paid in 2020 under a similar measure is being provided under this measure to over 700 qualifying householders who provide accommodation to students attending Irish language colleges each summer.

This ultimately means that a payment of €5 per student will be provided instead of €4 - as provided under last year’s measure. I might add that the measure has been broadly welcomed by the sector.

The objective of this funding is to ensure the continued viability of the sector and, as such, to allow it to continue to contribute to the systematic effort being made to support the Irish language and the Gaeltacht regions in line with overarching objectives as set out in the Government’s 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 and the accompanying 5-Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022.

The projected expenditure under this measure is set out in the table below per Gaeltacht region: 

I hope this information serves to clarify matters.