Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 June 2024
914. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the actions his Department is taking to increase the number of Irish speakers going into the workforce from third-level, in alignment with the government's target of having 20% of public sector employees fluent in Irish by 2030. [25374/24]
View answerReflecting the importance of the Irish language in the higher education system, the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 includes in the objects of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) the responsibility of ensuring that higher education institutions support the promotion and use of the Irish language. It should however by noted that higher education institutions (HEIs) are autonomous in their Irish language strategy, including the provision and expansion of university courses through the Irish language. The Department provides funding through the HEA, which distributes it to HEIs as block grants, allowing institutions to allocate resources to Irish-language initiatives as needed. The HEA has provided an earmarked allocation of €1.8m per annum to University of Galway for Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge for the last number of years. In addition, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media have committed funding for Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta. The Advanced Irish Language Skills Initiative is an initiative of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media as a response to an identified need to increase the numbers of graduates with skills in specific areas in the context of the Official Languages Act 2003 and Irish becoming an official and working language of the EU. It supports a range of specialised third level Irish language courses in areas such as translation, interpretation and law, with 8 courses available in 5 different institutions. There is also a broad range of courses available in Irish in higher education institutions, with student returns statistics showing 98 courses available in Irish. The Higher Education Authority funds the Conradh na Gaeilge initiative, ‘Gníomhaí Gaeilge’ which is run in conjunction with the Union of Students of Ireland. It offers Irish language clubs and societies with skills and mentorship in developing the use of the language within Higher Education.Overall, the Department is actively supporting the promotion of the Irish language through various initiatives and legislative measures. The implementation of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 will further drive demand for Irish language skills in the public sector, aligning with the government's target for 2030.
