Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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94. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will urgently review funding for the promotion of the Irish language (details supplied) as any cuts will have a detrimental effect on the Irish language in County Kerry in the coming years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10123/25]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Foras na Gaeilge is a constituent agency of the North South Language Body (NSLB), established under the British Irish Agreement Act 1999, as one of the north-south implementation structures

Budgets for North South bodies, including the North South Language Body, are approved by the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC).

Foras na Gaeilge is co-funded on a 75% basis by my Department and 25% by the Department of Communities in the north, the other sponsor department of the NSLB.

As the Northern Executive’s budget year does not commence until April, the Department for Communities, NI, has yet to confirm its 2025 budget commitments for the North South Language Body. Once the 2025 budget has been confirmed and agreed by the sponsor Departments, it will be brought to the next meeting of the NSMC for approval.

In the meantime, Foras na Gaeilge continues to operate at the funding level approved by NSMC in 2024, which is €16.5m, of which €12,387,239 or 75% is paid by my Department.

It is important to clarify the funding cuts announced recently by Foras na Gaeilge relate only to schemes which are jointly funded through the North South Language Body, and there is no impact on other Irish language and Gaeltacht programmes and activities which are funded solely by the Irish Government.

In this context, it is worth noting that the overall level of funding for Irish language and Gaeltacht has more than doubled in the past decade, with the majority of this increase happening over the past 5 years.

While Foras na Gaeilge has largely not been in a position to benefit from this, the Department responsible for the Gaeltacht and the Irish language has initiated a variety of schemes and programmes to ensure funding reaches organisations working on the ground with Irish language and Gaeltacht communities across the country.

For example, the Department’s budget for the language planning process increased from just €500,000 in 2015 to €6.7m in 2025. While the funding for language planning outside the Gaeltacht is administered by Foras na Gaeilge on behalf of the Department, this funding is ringfenced for this purpose only and is not, therefore, subject to the funding cuts announced by Foras na Gaeilge.

The Department’s own funding for Irish language programmes outside the Gaeltacht has more than doubled in the past 5 years, from €4.65m in 2020 to €10.7m in 2025 and a significant amount of this funding is being provided to the Irish language lead organisations normally funded by Foras na Gaeilge.

In terms of language planning, a budget of €96,000 per annum over 7 years was provided for the implementation of a language plan and for the employment of a Language Planning Officer in the Gaeltacht Service Town referred to by the Deputy. This funding is not subject to the cuts announced by Foras na Gaeilge.