Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1064. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his views on the adequacy of the existing budget to support the Irish language and Gaeltacht communities; if an increase in this budget can be considered in the context of forthcoming Budget negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39385/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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In the last six years, the budgetary allocation for the Gaeltacht and Irish Language Division of my Department has increased from €58.067m (2020) to €106.73m (2025), representing an increase of almost 84% in that period. This has enabled enhanced support of key initiatives such as the statutory Language Planning process and the roll-out of the Strategy for the Irish Language-Based Arts and of the provisions of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021.

Since my appointment, I have announced a number of funding initiatives aimed at supporting the Gaeltacht and the Irish Language. These include:

• In February, I approved €1.1 million in funding over 4 years to support the development of the Historical Dictionary of Irish. This project will produce an authoritative dictionary for modern Irish based on material from 1600 to the present day.
• In April, I obtained agreement at the North South Ministerial Council for 2025 funding levels for Foras na Gaeilge, thus allowing Foras to reverse planned funding cuts.
• In May, €1.5 million was approved to fund Conradh na Gaeilge's Gluaiseacht programme, which increases awareness among young people of Irish language job opportunities.
• In June, I announced €2.1 million in funding for the European Internship Scheme (2025-2030) which will give people the opportunity to experience working life and receive training in the Irish language units of the European Institutions.
• In July, I announced funding of €2 million to support the teaching of Irish in universities across Europe over 3 years, with more than 20 universities likely to benefit.