Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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1386. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures his Department is taking to encourage civil servants in his Department to take or avail of special leave or career breaks, or other forms of leave to encourage and facilitate Ireland's 2026 EU presidency, the Government "Career for EU" jobs strategy, and the Department's Gaeilge/Irish-language policy and promotion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3936/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland will take up the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2026. This presents a real opportunity to promote Ireland’s own initiatives and to lead the European education, skills, research, innovation and science agendas. Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union in 2026 will include the negotiations on key policy instruments such as Erasmus +, Horizon Europe and European Social Fund +.

My Department has recently assigned a new Research and Innovation Attaché to the Permanent Representation in Brussels. The importance of this role, in particular, could not hold any more significance than in 2026. In addition, my Department has appointed two new Research and Innovation Attachés in the United States (San Francisco and Boston) as part of Team Ireland.

We are also finalising requirements for the strengthening of our teams in both Brussels and Ireland to deliver the EU Presidency. We will resource these roles in the first half of 2026, and this will be achieved firstly by an in-house skills analysis of the Department’s experienced and capable staff. These new opportunities also build a pipeline for the Government 'Career for EU' Jobs Strategy.

My Department has always encouraged the professional development of its staff whether by availing of career breaks, further education or by learning or improving their Irish language skills and will continue to do so.