Vol. 525 No. 5
133 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if he will relax the Irish language requirements for Gaeltacht housing grants in view of the increasing incidence of returning immigrants with non-Gaeltacht spouses and children who heretofore have not been educated through Irish. [25633/00]
Under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Acts, Irish must be used as the normal spoken language of the applicants household before a grant can be sanctioned. It is not intended to change this condition.
The type of applicants referred to by the Deputy are treated with understanding and flexibility by my Department. Quite often, in order to help these households establish Irish as the normal spoken language, a time period is given – three or six months normally. Subsequently, my Department is prepared to re-examine the application and to consider all aspects of the case before a final decision is made.
It was to help households like these that Scéim Spreagtha na Gaeilge was established in 1980. Any applicant who is refused assistance under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Acts because of Irish can apply to the Department of the Environment and Local Government for the first time new house grant. If, in the meantime, the applicant can establish Irish as the normal spoken language in the new house, he can apply for assistance under Scéim Spreagtha na Gaeilge. This is worth £800 within two years and, together with the grant from the Department of the Environment and Local Government, a total of £3,800 is payable to the applicant compared to a Gaeltacht new house grant of £4,000.
Question No. 134 taken with Question No. 112.
Question No. 135 taken with Question No. 101.
