Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 July 2025
345. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Youth the amount of funding given to each county as part of language assistants scheme in each of the years 2014 to 2024, and to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40517/25]
View answerThe Foreign Language Assistant (FLA) scheme comes under 'Languages Connect', Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education, which primarily aims to increase and diversify the uptake of Foreign Languages in the Irish Education System.
The FLA scheme has its origins in cultural agreements between Ireland and the countries of France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Italy. Graduates, or undergraduates, from these countries exchange with their Irish counterparts and are placed in second level schools, typically for an eight month period (October to May). The scheme aims to provide additional support to school communities to experience the target language and its culture with a native speaker.
It is important to note that 'funding' is not provided to any county in relation to the FLA scheme.
The assistants are placed in schools throughout the country, based on the schools that have applied to be part of the scheme in a given year. The assistants are then provided with a monthly living allowance, which I can confirm is set at €1,070 for the 2025/26 school year.
