Written answers
Tuesday, 4 November 2025
Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Departmental Funding
John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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940. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the conditions attached to the funding provided by his Department and its agencies to music, culture, arts and sports organisations regarding the use of Irish and the promotion of their activities through the Irish language; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57852/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Cultural Infrastructure and Investment grant payments from my Department of over €20,000 include a condition that a plaque or signage be displayed on site and on the grantee’s website with my Department’s logo and the Project Ireland 2040 logo, acknowledging the funding assistance. These logos are bilingual. For grants under €20,000, grantees must display these logos on any relevant website. Photographic evidence is required prior to final drawdown.
In respect of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) administered by my Department, the following conditions apply pertaining to the use of Irish and the promotion of their activities through the Irish language:
- A temporary sign should be put in place during the course of the contract stating that the facility has been provided with financial support from the LSSIF of the Department and Project Ireland 2040. This sign should be in Irish and English.
- A prominently displayed permanent sign stating that the facility has been provided with financial support from the LSSIF of the Department and Project Ireland 2040. This sign should be in Irish and English.
My Department is committed to providing quality public services through Irish, fulfilling the requirements of the Official Languages Acts 2003 and 2021, and meeting the targets set in our Language Scheme.
My Department continues to actively promote the use of Irish, most notably through the provision of Irish language training opportunities and by ensuring that all Press Releases and material uploaded to our website are provided in Irish and English.
Under Section 10A of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 public bodies are required to ensure that at least 20% of any advertising placed in a given year is in the Irish language and at least 5% of any advertising spend is used for placing advertising in the Irish language on Irish language media. In 2024, based on preliminary results my Department met both of these requirements, with an indicative average of 23.52% for the 20% placement requirement and 6.51% for the 5% advertising spend requirement.
Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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941. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount of funding granted to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) by his Department over the past five years; and if the relevant NGOs have submitted reports or other documentation outlining the way in which the funding has been spent, in tabular form. [57991/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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My Department, and the bodies under its aegis, fund a wide range of non-profit organisations in the sporting and cultural area.
In the absence of an agreed definition of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) it is not possible to say if any of these non-profit groups consider themselves to be NGOs. It is not a category of funding recipient that is distinguished within the programmes which my Department operates.
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