Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when the third Covid support package currently being developed for coláiste samhraidh will be announced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47913/21]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I recently established a fund worth €2.2m to support eligible Gaeltacht families who normally provide accommodation for summer college students. This funding is being provided on foot of the cancellation of Irish language courses for the second summer in succession due to COVID-19.

Under a second and separate measure, further funding of c €240,000 is being provided by my Department to support the running of Gaeltacht community halls normally used by summer colleges.

Preparatory work in developing a third support measure, on foot of detailed engagement with all of the colleges, is nearing completion and I hope to formally announce the result of this process shortly.

The overall objective of all of these measures is to support the sector in making a full return to normal service in 2022, thus enabling it to continue to contribute to the systematic effort being made to support the Irish language and the Gaeltacht in line with overarching objectives of the Government’s20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 and the accompanying 5-Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022.