Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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24. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for an update on the Cork city Gaeltacht satellite town proposal. [22435/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State for the Gaeltacht at the time made a notice under Section 9(2)(a) of the Gaeltacht Act in 2017 to begin the process of preparing a language plan for Cork City. This would allow Cork city to achieve the status of a Gaeltacht Service Town under the language planning process.

Cork City has always had a vibrant Irish speaking community with strong links to the Gaeltacht areas of the county, and of County Kerry. In this regard, the City has been shortlisted, together with 15 other towns as urban centres which may be accorded Gaeltacht Service Town status, subject to language plans being developed in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

The organisation, Gael-Taca was appointed as the lead organisation to prepare the language plan for the city in April 2018. Funding of €20,000 was approved for the organisation to assist in preparing the plan.

To date, a language plan of an acceptable standard has not been produced in respect of Cork City. Accordingly, my Department is currently considering the next steps in relation to progressing the language planning process in the city. It is my understanding that a proposed course of action is being prepared for my consideration and I expect that a decision will be made regarding how the process can proceed in the city in the near future.

Notwithstanding the difficulties encountered in agreeing a language plan for Cork City, my Department agreed in 2025 to extend the provisions of its Language Assistants Scheme to all Irish-medium schools within the city - a decision which was welcomed by all stakeholders.