Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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37. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his plans to ensure the accessibility of the Irish language and Irish classes, particularly for those who want to learn but may not have the means for a private course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23007/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department supports the Irish summer colleges sector to foster language acquisition and enrichment opportunities for learners of the language from the ages of 10 years and over in the Gaeltacht outside of the formal education system.

In this context, my Department provides a subsidy under Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge / the Irish Language Learners Scheme (SFG) payable to qualified Gaeltacht households providing accommodation for those attending an Irish course in any one of the c. 40 Irish-language colleges operating under the scheme.

The subsidy, currently valued at €14.50 per night, benefits over 29,000 learners annually by subsidising the cost of accommodation while staying in any of the over 500 Gaeltacht households approved under the scheme and represents a State investment of over €7m annually in support of the Irish summer colleges sector.

Evidence indicates an upward trend in the number of learners attending Gaeltacht summer colleges. Departmental figures show that over 29,000 learners participated in courses in 2025, representing an increase on the figure for 2024 and also on the pre-pandemic figure of 2019 which both stood at around 27,000.

My Department also funds a number of other initiatives under Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge including the DEIS Gaeltachta scholarship scheme. This initiative commenced in 2019 and provides scholarships to students attending DEIS second-level schools to attend recognised Irish summer colleges. It is administered by the Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB) on behalf of my Department. In 2025, I increased the total annual funding available for the scheme from €400,000 to €900,000.

With this significant rise in funding, over 900 scholarships will now be offered annually. It should be noted also that, in the period since the scheme was established, the Department of Education and Youth has increased the number of post-primary schools with designated DEIS status to over 230, thus ensuring that the DEIS Gaeltachta scheme is more broadly accessible than ever before.

Each scholarship is currently worth c.€950 each or 85% of the course fee, whichever is lesser, for a three-week course and €820 or 85% of the course fee, whichever is lesser, for a two-week course. GRETB has indicated to my officials that both demand and uptake of scholarships remains high annually and that the number of DEIS schools participating in the scheme has increased in recent years from 36% in 2023/24 to 63% in 2024/25.

I might also mention the ERASMUS Gaeltachta fund, worth €250,000, which facilitates opportunities for up to 175 third-level students to spend three months immersed in the Gaeltacht. Under ERASMUS Gaeltachta, a subsidy worth €23.50 per night towards accommodation costs is provided to enable third-level institutions to offer a semester in the Gaeltacht to their students. Similar to the other aforementioned measures, this subsidy is payable to hosts providing accommodation under the terms of Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge.

In the interest of completeness, it should be noted that, in addition to the aforementioned grant schemes funded by my Department, it is understood that a number of other public and private organisations administer Irish college scholarship schemes and Irish language courses. As my Department does not have oversight of these schemes, I am not in a position to provide details of same.

I am satisfied that these measures provide significant, broadly accessible, language-learning opportunities for learners of the language across the country at different ages and stages of education and align with the key principles of social inclusion, while generating substantial down-stream economic benefits for Gaeltacht regions.