Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 March 2021
147. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if since 2014, it is accurate to state that no funding has been provided by his Department to meet the specific requirements for support of naíonraí outside the Gaeltacht; the way he plans to address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13615/21]
View answerMy Department is committed to supporting ELC and SAC services operating through the medium of Irish.
The Department’s ELC and SAC funded programmes are available to all services. In this regard, there are currently 267 services identified as naíonraí with Pobal and these services received over €94m in funding since 2014 from my Department in respect of the national childcare programmes.
I believe that there is much value in supporting the provision of services in the Irish language to children at an early age. Early learning and childcare services play an important role here, in particular in promoting Irish as a living language. Research shows that it is easiest to acquire a new language in the earliest years, and supporting young children to develop their Irish language skills whilst in early learning and childcare settings will benefit them as they transition to school, and can enable the revitalisation of the Irish language in communities.
In this regard my Department has collaborated extensively with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media (formerly the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) in agreeing a comprehensive set of actions under the 5 Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022. These actions are in support of the overarching 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, and are designed to affirm the importance that early learning and care settings have in encouraging the development and revitalisation of the Irish language. The aim of these actions is to build on the existing measures, supports and partnerships in place in the area of Irish-medium early learning and care, and to further improve these supports and services.
First 5, the Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, launched by my Department in 2018, contains two actions specifically aimed at supporting the development of the Irish language within the ELC and SAC sector. These actions involve ensuring that children in Gaeltacht areas have access to ELC and SAC services through Irish, and developing mechanisms to provide Irish language supports to services where there are high proportions of children learning through the medium of Irish.
Since the onset of Covid-19, my Department engaged with Irish language organisations and provided significant resources for parents, ELC and SAC providers and practitioners, and childminders on-line. Material was made available in both Irish and English.
In addition, the current Continuous Professional Development offer in Irish, funded by my Department, includes child protection training and training in diversity. Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta provide the Department’s programme of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training through the medium of Irish as well as the foundation level Children First training as part of the national ELC Children First implementation plan. Tusla has made the Children First eLearning module available in Irish. Online resources relating to the early years curriculum, the Aistear-Síolta Practice Guide, are available in Irish on the NCCA website.
