Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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286. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on DEIS Gaeltacht scholarships for 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3338/23]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The DEIS Gaeltachta initiative first commenced in 2019 with an allocation of €50,000 in order to assist in providing the opportunity to post-primary students attending DEIS schools to attend recognised Irish summer colleges.

The initiative is administered by the Galway and Roscommon Training Board (GRETB) on behalf of the Department.

In order to further support the objectives of the measure and indeed generate downstream benefits for the Irish-colleges sector, additional funding totalling €400,000 was allocated to the initiative in 2022 and this allocation will again be provided in the current year.

Over 420 DEIS students availed of the initiative in 2022.

In order to further clarify how the DEIS Gaeltachta measure operates and to further assist those wishing to apply to the scheme, GRETB will shortly publish an FAQ section on its website.