Cormac Devlin
Ceist:706. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education the progress of a school building project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35923/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchools Building Projects
Ceisteanna (706)
Freagraí scríofa
The project brief for the schools referred to by the Deputy was originally to provide 2 ten classroom special schools with General Purpose hall and all associated ancillary accommodation on the same site. The brief for Setanta Special School was subsequently increased to provide an additional 2 classrooms. The project is included in my Department’s Construction Programme and is being delivered under the National Development Plan (NDP) as part of Project Ireland 2040.
Works commenced on site in June 2023 with an estimated completion timeframe of 18 months. However, due to a number of unforeseen site issues, and additional delays in relation to the relocation of ESB wires, which were outside the control of my Department, the campus project was delayed on site. Overall completion for the campus project for the two schools is estimated at Quarter 3 of 2025. Discussions are ongoing in relation to the possible early handover of Setanta Special School in December 2024 for occupation in January 2025. However, this needs careful analysis from a technical, safety and education perspective given that it would relate to a special school operating beside a live construction site on the same campus.
The Design Team and my Department’s Planning and Building Unit are liaising closely on this matter and will continue to keep the school communities updated on progress and timelines. Special Schools are a key priority for my Department, and we will continue to work hard to ensure that any delays are minimised to the greatest extent possible.
Schools Building Projects
Ceisteanna (707)
Cormac Devlin
Ceist:707. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education the progress of a school building project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35924/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The project for the school referred to by the Deputy when complete will provide a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school building and accommodation, including 4 classrooms, for children with special educational needs on the permanent site for the school. The decision to grant planning permission for the permanent school was received from An Bord Pleanála on 25th October 2023 .
Tender documentation is currently being prepared by my Department's project managers. It is intended that this project will be included in the next bundle of Design & Build projects to proceed to tender. Projects are subject to relevant due diligence by my Department at each stage in the process, within the context of overall programme and budgetary parameters.
My Department will continue to keep the patron body and the school updated as the project progresses.
School Transport
Ceisteanna (708)
Robert Troy
Ceist:708. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education if issues with a school bus route in Westmeath (details supplied) will be addressed. [35946/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
Over 140,000 mainstream tickets have issued for the 2024/2025 school year, which is already 3% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2023/2024 school year.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national school. At post primary level, they are eligible where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre. Distance is determined by the Department/Bus Éireann and rules have regard to ethos and language.
Bus Éireann have advised that there was an issue with timings of the service in the first few days for pupils, but this has now been resolved and all pupils are arriving at school on time.
Special Educational Needs
Ceisteanna (709, 710)
Brendan Smith
Ceist:709. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education the up-to-date position regarding the provision of a special school in County Monaghan, as the need for such school provision has been clearly identified for some time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35955/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraBrendan Smith
Ceist:710. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education when her Department and the NCSE will finalise the review in relation to the need for further new special schools and the expansion of existing special schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35956/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 709 and 710 together.
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
There are 124 NCSE supported special schools throughout the country. These schools support over 8,800 students nationwide. My department and the NCSE continue to monitor and review the need for further new special schools and the expansion of existing special schools in all areas of the country including County Monaghan. It is estimated that a further 300 new special school places may be required nationwide each year for the coming years.
Where additional special school places are needed, the preference is generally to expand capacity in existing schools. However, consideration is being given to whether further new special schools, in addition to those recently established are required in certain locations. As part of this work, the NCSE is examining known demand in areas, the distances children are travelling to special schools and potential capacity in special schools which already exist. This work is ongoing and is expected to be substantially completed in late autumn. A number of regions are under consideration for special school provision.
My department and the NCSE are progressing this review work ahead of determining where additional capacity is required, in existing special schools, or, in what regions a new special school may need to be established for the 2025/26 school year.
Question No. 710 answered with Question No. 709.
School Transport
Ceisteanna (711)
Mark Ward
Ceist:711. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Education her views on the proposal to review the mandatory retirement age of 70 years for bus drivers employed by or contracted to Bus Éireann for the provision of school transport services; if she agrees with An Taoiseach in his remarks (details supplied); if she will work with the Minister for Transport to implement this review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35962/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
Over 140,000 mainstream tickets have issued for the 2024/2025 school year, which is already 3% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2023/2024 school year.
The retirement age for school bus drivers has been set by Bus Éireann at 70 years of age, which also applies to all Bus Éireann road passenger services.
The policy and criteria also apply to drivers nominated by private operators who operate services as part of the School Transport Scheme, who may continue to perform in the role provided they hold the requisite license and satisfy an annual medical examination until they retire at age 70.
The age limit on bus drivers was increased to 70 years a number of years ago. Bus Éireann has informed the Department there is no plan to increase the age limit further at this time. The Road Safety Authority under the remit of the Department of Transport committed to reviewing the upper age limit of drivers as it relates to larger vehicles/school buses.
Schools Building Projects
Ceisteanna (712)
Robert Troy
Ceist:712. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education the status of school projects (details supplied). [35968/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The position on individual projects within the overall school building pipeline of projects evolves all the time and the current status of all projects including those projects referenced by the Deputy are listed on a county by county basis at www.gov.ie. This information is updated on a regular basis to reflect their progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.
Since 2020, the department has invested in the region of €5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 950 schools building projects and with construction currently underway at approximately 350 other projects, which includes 36 new school buildings. These 350 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of over €1.5bn. Investments by the Department of Education are adding over 550,000 square metres of new and modernised capacity to our school estate. This is a record level of investment in school buildings. It will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education and upgrade and modernise our school infrastructure. The impact of this will be felt in communities right around the country.
Notwithstanding this level of investment, it is also important to note that all individual projects form part of a larger programme. The Department must manage the wider programme within the context of available resources, including funding parameters. In doing so, the Department targets and prioritise areas that are under greatest pressure for additional school places. This reflects the Department’s fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child. The main focus of the Department’s capital funding over the last decade and for the coming period is on provision of critical additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics and children with special education needs. The overall position with regard to potential modernisation and replacement of existing school infrastructure will be kept under review as capital funding allocations for future years are clarified.
School Transport
Ceisteanna (713)
Robert Troy
Ceist:713. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education the alternatives supports available to eligible students for school transport when the Department cannot source a bus to provide said transport. [35969/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
Over 140,000 mainstream tickets have issued for the 2024/2025 school year, which is already 3% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2023/2024 school year.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Under the terms of the School Transport Primary and Post Primary Schemes, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national school. At post primary level, they are eligible where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre. Distance is determined by the Department/Bus Éireann and rules have regard to ethos and language.
Under the terms of the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, the Department will consider the report of the Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO). School transport is provided to children with special educational needs who are attending the nearest school to their place of residence that is or can be resourced to meet their educational needs, as identified by the SENO.
Bus Éireann has recently reported that unfortunately, for a small number of families, difficulties have arisen in some localities with a small number of contracted services. These services were secured for the 2024/2025 school year and due to reported driver/contractor unavailability at short notice, services could not commence as expected.
It has been reported that driver shortages are being experienced in many sectors of the economy and throughout the country. While the situation is dynamic with solutions being found, currently this represents approximately 1% of vehicles operating mainstream school transport services. Bus Éireann has contacted the affected families directly and will maintain communications with them.
With regard to mainstream school transport services, an “Exceptional No Service Interim Grant” payable by the Department, which will be based on the number of days children attend school will be made available to the families. The grant is available to the small number of families who have already received a school transport ticket from Bus Éireann and where difficulties have meant that transport is not be in place for the start of the school year. Bus Éireann have contacted these families directly. Families do not need to make an application for the exceptional payment. Those who have been issued a ticket and do not have a service in place will be contacted by School Transport Section in the Department.
With regard to services under the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, a Special Transport Interim Grant has been offered to families of children with special educational needs who, following the application process, are eligible under the terms of the school transport scheme and were awaiting a School Transport service to be put in place.
This grant is a once off payment. The interim grant is offered from the date of application to assist with the cost of private transport arrangements the family had put in place until a transport service is ready to commence. Further information on the Special Transport Interim Grant can be found at: gov.ie/schooltransport.
Work is continuing in order to resolve this matter and Bus Éireann are committed to providing transport to these students as quickly as is possible.
Bus Éireann has put in place a dedicated customer care call centre to assist families specifically with School Transport queries during the busy summer period. Families that have queries can contact the call centre on: LoCall 0818 919 910. Operating hours are usually 09.00 – 17.00 Monday to Friday.
Families can also contact Bus Éireann by submitting a query via the following link: www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=523
School Transport
Ceisteanna (714)
Robert Troy
Ceist:714. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education if a school bus ticket will be issued to a person (details supplied). [35980/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
Over 140,000 mainstream tickets have issued for the 2024/2025 school year, which is already 3% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2023/2024 school year.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national school. At post primary level, they are eligible where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre. Distance is determined by the Department/Bus Éireann and rules have regard to ethos and language.
Bus Éireann have advised that this pupil is eligible for transport and has applied and paid on time for the 2024/25 school year. They have further advised that they have been scheduled to a service and will be receiving a ticket for this service in the coming days.
School Transport
Ceisteanna (715)
Neasa Hourigan
Ceist:715. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Education if, under the new pilot projects that form part of the school transport scheme 2030 report, her Department will accept applications from schools to participate in any further iterations of pilots taking place in other areas of the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35993/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
Over 140000 mainstream tickets have issued for the 2024/2025 school year, which is already 3% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2023/2024 school year.
As the Deputy is aware, a review of the School Transport Scheme has been completed. This review was conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness, and sustainability and to ensure it services students and their families adequately.
The School Transport Scheme 2030 report, which was published earlier this year, marks the largest review of the School Transport Scheme since it was established in 1967. The Government is committed to working to achieve the report’s recommendation of expanding access to the scheme so that an additional 100,000 pupils can be carried by 2030. Throughout the review, the value of the School Transport Scheme to both families and in supporting wider Government policies has been very apparent. In summary, school transport not only plays an important part in supporting children's access to education, but it also aligns to wider Government objectives.
Overall, the recommended changes to the future operation of the Scheme include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards better integration with public transport to ensure the best value for money to the Exchequer.
A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations is beginning in September 2024. As indicated at the time of the launch of the School Transport Review, this will include a shared effort between my Department and the Department of Transport, supported by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Bus Éireann, to pilot and introduce greater integration of existing public transport networks with post-primary school transport routes. Two areas have been identified for these initial pilot projects:
• One in the Limerick/Shannon area
• One in the Roscommon/Athlone area.
The planned pilot projects in the 2024/2025 school year will provide valuable insights on the scale of planning and implementation required for national implementation of a revised School Transport Scheme, to include the integration of public transport and school transport services. Further pilots may be considered following a full evaluation of these initial pilot projects.
It is intended, subject to resources, to commence implementing the revised eligibility criteria in the 2025/2026 school year.
School Patronage
Ceisteanna (716)
Róisín Shortall
Ceist:716. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Education if she has issued any guidance to schools in respect of parents entitlement under the Constitution, to withdraw their children from religious instruction classes in schools; if so, if she will provide a copy of this; if not, if she will now commit to doing so as a matter of urgency, in view of the fact that many schools do not make provision for such arrangements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35997/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The department has not issued guidance to schools in relation to arrangements to facilitate requests to not attend religious instruction classes. Good guidance is available to schools in the follow-up paper to the Report of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector which was published in 2014. The paper outlines good practice and options for promoting diversity in all schools. The paper also provides an overview of different types of arrangements that schools have put in place to facilitate parents who do not wish for their children to attend religious instruction classes.
The paper encourages school authorities to consider their policies and practices and to review whether they are taking the steps necessary to welcome all pupils and make them feel included. The Catholic Schools Partnership has also published guidelines for catholic schools in relation to the inclusion of all pupils and that this also contains suggestions on how such schools can manage requests to attend school without attending religious instruction.
The Department’s ‘Schools Reconfiguration for diversity process’ supports the transfer of schools from denominational patrons to multi-denominational patrons in response to the wishes of local school communities. This process has been developed to accelerate the delivery of multi-denominational schools in line with the Programme for Government of having 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030.
A significant amount of work has been done by the Department on the scope, logistics and practical arrangements for a survey of primary school communities. It is intended that the online, school-specific survey will ask parents and guardians of children currently in primary school and parents and guardians of children who have not yet started primary school their preferences on important aspects of school provision and choice, including demand for a multi-denominational ethos.
Media Sector
Ceisteanna (717)
Michael Healy-Rae
Ceist:717. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if a fund can be created to support local radio stations (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33867/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I am conscious that provision of high quality public service media content is not just the preserve of our public service media bodies, RTÉ and TG4, but that commercial broadcasters, such as local radio, and other media platforms, like local newspapers, play an important role in providing valuable public service content to the Irish public.
The Future of Media Commission (FOMC), in examining the challenges faced by the media sector and consequent impact on the provision of public service content, made a number of recommendations to counter these challenges and to support the provision of public service content.
One recommendation made by the Future of Media Commission was for a new Media Fund to provide support for the provision of public service content by the wider media and journalism sector at local, regional and national levels. The FOMC also recommended that new schemes under this Fund should be put in place on a platform neutral basis, i.e. that they should be open to all media including audiovisual, radio, digital and newspapers.
In Budget 2024, I secured €6m for two pilot schemes under this Fund, the Local Democracy Scheme and the Courts Reporting Scheme. The Schemes opened for applications in July and will close this month. As the schemes are being administered by Coimisiún na Meán on a platform neutral basis, commercial radio are fully eligible to apply for funding.
I am acutely aware of and understand the concerns raised by IBI in relation to the need to support the provision of existing news and current affairs content. However, these schemes were subject to State Aid review by the European Commission and had the funding model been targeted at supporting the existing cost base of the sector, this clearance would have proven far more difficult.
I have secured €10m in funding for 2025, in part, to allow the addition of a Digital Transformation Scheme and a Media Access and Training Scheme to this Fund. My Department will also be progressing the development of a News Reporting Scheme. This funding will also allow the continuation of these Schemes and to bring forward additional Schemes recommended by the Future of Media Commission. The broad policy for these Schemes is being developed by my Department at present and stakeholder feedback, including the IBI’s views, will be taken into account as part of the design process. I have asked my officials to keep me updated on developments in this regard.
In line with another of the FOMC's recommendations, it is also the intention to amend the Broadcasting Act to allow news and current affairs to be eligible for funding under the Sound & Vision scheme which is administered by Coimisiún na Meán and funded by the licence fee and Exchequer funding. Work is currently underway in this regard. This will provide another important avenue for funding in respect of news and current affairs to the commercial radio sector.
These new provisions are in addition to supports already provided to the independent media sector:
• In 2023, €16.7m in funding was awarded to applicants of the Sound and Vision scheme, providing support to a range of independent producers, commercial radio and community broadcasters. This included an additional €6m of Exchequer funding which I secured, enabling the expansion of the funding rounds and a dedicated €2.4m independent commercial radio round.
• The radio sector also received significant funding from other Sound and Vision rounds announced in 2023. 35 projects received a total of €543,000 from announcements made last August, while another 67 radio projects received €636,000 from Round 47 which was announced in April 2023.
• In April 2024, Coimisiún na Meán announced the allocation of €8.6m of Sound and Vision funding for broadcasters and independent producers. Round 51 provided over €1.1m for 38 radio projects and Round 52 allocated over €700k to the community radio sector.
Given the importance of the radio sector, at my request Coimisiún na Meán prepared a Report into the Economic Viability of the Commercial Radio Sector, which was published on 3rd May 2024. The report provides valuable insights into the revenues, costs, and profits in the sector over the past number of years, and the challenges and opportunities facing the sector which it identifies, in particular regarding independent local radio stations. The report indicates a consistently profitable commercial radio sector that has been resilient over the past number of years but that will need to adapt to changing consumption habits and modes of delivering audio content in the coming years. In that context, the report identifies the digitalisation of sound services as both an opportunity and challenge for the sector. My officials will continue to engage with Coimisiún na Meán regarding the findings of the report.
I am fully committed to examining longer-term supports to commercial radio that reflect the unique needs and characteristics of the sector. Given the importance of the sector, and having regard to the issues raised by IBI, I will continue to engage with my officials on the most appropriate mechanism to support the radio sector in delivering vital public service content for our democracy and society.
Broadcasting Sector
Ceisteanna (718)
Robert Troy
Ceist:718. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she has received a proposal from RTÉ for the removal of its plus one channels and its digital radio stations, as outlined in its New Direction strategy, as required under section 103 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 (details supplied); if she received RTÉ's proposal, when she plans to commence her decision making process under the Act; and if that process will include taking submissions from the public. [33903/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As the Deputy rightly points out, Section 103 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 provides that RTÉ or TG4 may, with the consent of the Minister, vary the number of television or sound broadcasting channels operated. The process established under Section 103 requires consultation with the broadcaster, consultation with Coimisiún na Meán as to the sectoral impact and consideration of the public value of any such proposal.
As part of its Statement of Strategy 2025-2029, published in June, RTÉ has proposed ceasing a number of digital radio services, as well as time shift channels over the duration of the strategy. RTÉ state that their investment in digital services will allow the content on these services to be available more widely through on-demand services and that closing the plus one channels will allow them to reduce the cost of traditional broadcast distribution and prioritise delivery of live and on-demand content through digital platforms.
To date, a proposal from RTÉ has not been received and, when it is forthcoming, the merits of the proposal will be assessed as outlined above, prior to any decision being made.
Programme for Government
Ceisteanna (719)
Jim O'Callaghan
Ceist:719. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will report on the implementation of the programme for Government commitments under the remit of her Department. [34018/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department has made, and continues to make, significant progress on implementing the relevant commitments under the Programme for Government. My Department’s Statement of Strategy reflects these national priorities. The following summarises our key achievements in respect of the Programme for Government:
Tourism:
• We strongly supported the recovery and rebuilding of Ireland’s crucial international tourism market.
• A key commitment was to develop a new sustainable tourism policy and I expect to publish this before the end of the year.
• Work is progressing on the Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill which will provide the statutory basis for the regulation of the Short Term Letting sector in Ireland and the establishment of a register, managed by Fáilte Ireland, for all Short Term Lets in Ireland.
• I have also significantly increased investment in the tourism agencies which support the sector, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. Overall funding for tourism has grown from €184 million in 2020 to €219 million in 2024.
• A number of product and promotional initiatives have been undertaken to further support the development of the industry and deliver on the latest priorities of the tourism sector, such as the new brand collaboration project linking the Causeway Coastal Route and the Wild Atlantic Way under the Shared Island programme.
• In addition, Fáilte Ireland has developed four new Regional Tourism Development Strategies 2023–2027 covering the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, the Hidden Heartlands and Dublin.
Arts and Culture:
• Substantial funding for the arts, artists and cultural enterprises impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, including government supports for the first time for the live entertainment sector.
• Funding for the Arts Council has increased significantly year-on-year to €134 million in 2024.
• Introduction of the Basic Income for the Arts – a three-year pilot scheme to support artists and creative arts which incorporates a research programme to inform future Government policy.
• Significant progress has been made across the 36 actions in the Report of the Night-Time Economy Taskforce with many actions now completed.
• Strong support for the successful Irish film industry through increased funding for Screen Ireland.
• The development of a Culture, Creativity and Climate Policy Framework which will bring strategic direction to climate action in the creative and cultural fields.
• The extension of the Creative Ireland programme to 2027.
Gaeltacht:
• Údarás na Gaeltachta has received significant additional funding which assisted in protecting client- companies from Brexit and Covid- 19, as well as progressing investments in ‘greening’ enterprise infrastructure.
• Enactment of the Official Languages Act 2021, is encouraging more people to learn and embrace the language and ensure the delivery of public services through Irish. A National Plan for Irish Language Public Services has been developed and will go to Government shortly.
• Implementation of the language planning process across Gaeltacht regions, Gaeltacht Service Towns and Irish Language Networks continued to be advanced as a key measure in the overarching implementation of the Government’s 5-Year Action for the Irish Language (Plean Gníomhaíochta 2018-2022).
• The Department is providing support for the development of Irish language centres outside the Gaeltacht, including a commitment to a flagship Centre in Dublin City Conradh na Gaeilge’s headquarters in Harcourt St.
• The promotion of the Irish language in workplaces and social settings, through funding initiatives by organisations such as Conradh na Gaeilge, Oireachtas na Gaeilge and Glór na nGael.
Sport:
• Record levels of funding for Sport, with an allocation of €209m in 2024. This has facilitated unprecedented investment in the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme, with at least €250 million to be made available for the 2023 round. A second round of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund was also launched this year.
• Increased core funding has been allocated to sporting organisations in recent years, including a record investment of €17.3m for 2024.
• Sport Ireland policy on High Performance published in 2021 and policy on Diversity and Inclusion in Sport launched in May 2023.
• The Masterplan for the development of the National Sports Campus was approved by Government in 2022.
• Government support for the Football Association of Ireland’s successful bid, with the UK, to host EURO 2028. In addition, a Major International Sports Events Policy and Strategy Framework has been completed and will be published in the coming weeks.
• The first National Swimming Strategy was published in August 2024.
Media:
• The Online Safety and Media Regulation Act was enacted in 2022. Subsequently, Coimisiún na Meán was established in 2023.
• The Future of Media Commission Report was published in July of 2022. An Implementation Strategy and Action Plan was published in January of 2023. Implementation of the accepted recommendations is ongoing.
• Following the publication of the two independent reviews into RTÉ, in 2024, the Government agreed multi-annual public funding for RTÉ and public service media.
• Significant support of Irish language programming though increased investment in TG4 and through the Broadcasting Fund.
Sports Funding
Ceisteanna (720)
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Ceist:720. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of a project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34089/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The National Sports Policy was published on 25 July 2018 and provided for a Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The aim of the fund is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects. These are projects where the Exchequer investment would be greater than the maximum amount available under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP).
In April this year, Minister Martin and I announced funding of up to €120 million under the current 2024 round of the LSSIF which closed for applications on 1 July 2024. Assessment of applications, for funding of between €600,000 and €30 million, will take into account such factors as population size, sustainability and ensuring that similar access is provided to accommodate access by men and women to LSSIF-funded facilities.
The initial assessment of LSSIF applications, including the application referred to by the deputy, is now underway and it is clear that this round of the LSSIF has generated significantly more applications and a much higher volume of demand than the first round.