Written Answers Nos. 555-557
555. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the estimated cost of increasing the funding allocation for the lead organisations funded by Foras na Gaeilge by 50%, including the specific funding increase that would be required from the administrations in Dublin and at Stormont. [46654/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraForas na Gaeilge has allocated €5,435,409 to core funding for its lead organisations in 2026. The cost of increasing the allocation by 50% would be in the region of €2,717,704.
The Government of Ireland provides 75% of the Foras na Gaeilge budget annually, with the remaining 25% coming from the Northern Ireland Executive, in accordance with the funding ratios agreed when the North-South Language Body was established. The increase mentioned above would, therefore, be split as follows:
75%: €2,038,278
25%: €679,426
556. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the estimated cost of restoring the Irish Language Books Programme to the level of funding it had in 2008; the cost of increasing to that level adjusted for inflation since 2008; and the total annual expenditure on the Irish Language Books Programme each year since 2008. [46655/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn allocation of €1,820,000 was made available for Clár na Leabhar Gaeilge in 2008. I was happy to announce last December that funding of €2 million would be available for the programme in 2026, the highest level ever. This represents a significant increase from the funding available to the programme annually since 2008, which is set out below.
|
Year |
Funding |
|
2008 |
€1,820,000 |
|
2009 |
€1,588,563 |
|
2010 |
€1,499,917 |
|
2011 |
€1,323,883 |
|
2012 |
€1,259,142 |
|
2013 |
€1,170,996 |
|
2014 |
€1,117,395 |
|
2015 |
€1,105,380 |
|
2016 |
€1,061,165 |
|
2017 |
€1,061,165 |
|
2018 |
€1,061,165 |
|
2019 |
€1,061,165 |
|
2020 |
€1,061,165 |
|
2021 |
€1,061,165 |
|
2022 |
€1,361,165 |
|
2023 |
€1,361,165 |
|
2024 |
€1,361,165 |
|
2025 |
€1,361,165 |
557. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the estimated cost of recruiting a full-time language planning officer for each local authority area in the State. [46656/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe recruitment of Irish language officers in local authorities is solely a matter for the local authorities themselves; my Department has no role in such recruitment or in the expenditure involved in same.
The Deputy may be aware of the Gaeilge365 initiative which my Department is supporting for the period 2025-2028. Gaeilge365 was established to achieve a structural transformation in the daily use of Irish in services provided by Dublin’s four local authorities, in line with the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language.
The main objectives of the initiative are:
• normalising the use of Irish in public services through a structural increase in usage opportunities from 6,000 to over 150,000 by 2028;
• developing and scaling 24+ reusable service models across different public services;
• creating an innovation pipeline (12 pilots in 2025, 24 by 2026);
• developing internal leaders through a developmental approach, supporting them to create new projects based on their potential;
• enabling the effective implementation of national legislation and plans for the Irish language;
• building an Irish language ecosystem across councils, services and communities, in line with national policies.
My Department is providing funding of up to €2,274,630 for the initial four year cycle of the Gaeilge365 initiative. Combined matching funding is provided by the four Dublin local authorities.
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to expand the Gaeilge365 initiative to all local authorities during the term of the current Government. However, prior to taking steps to fulfil this commitment, an evaluation of its impact in the four Dublin local authorities will be required. In order to fully inform this evaluation through the use of learning from the Dublin initiative, it is not envisaged that said evaluation will be carried out until the latter half of 2027 at the earliest.
