Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 June 2021
83. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the supports that are available to homeowners in Gaeltacht regions, that is, mná tí whose primary incomes are from working during the summer months as host families for students who move to the Gaeltacht to improve their Irish; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33238/21]
View answerMy Department, via Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge, subvents the cost of attending summer college in Gaeltacht regions. Under the terms of the scheme, the Department provides a subsidy, currently worth €10 per day (equivalent to €220 per student for a three week course) which benefits over 26,000 students a year while staying in any of the c.700 Gaeltacht households approved under the scheme.
This represents a State investment of over €4m annually in support of the Irish summer colleges sector. Not only does this annual state investment yield benefits in providing language learning and enrichment opportunities to thousands of young people annually, it also generates economic benefits for Gaeltacht regions.
In addition to providing and administering this practical assistance, the Department also administers a number of further specific measures under the scheme, including DEIS Gaeltachta. Under this measure which was introduced in 2019, 50 scholarships are made available annually - worth c. €850 each - to qualifying students attending DEIS post-primary schools. The scheme is administered on behalf of the Department by Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board, which also administers another initiative called Árainn Gaeltachta. This initiative provides funding of up to €150,000 over a 3-year period so that up to 30 post-primary students per year can spend a full year attending any one of the three post-primary schools on the Aran islands while residing with accredited Gaeltacht households.
While my Department has for a number of years subsidised the accommodation costs for trainee teachers attending residential Gaeltacht courses, in 2019, it launched a new initiative, named Erasmus Gaeltachta, which provides up to 175 third-level students with the opportunity to spend a semester residing with accredited Gaeltacht households. This initiative is administered under my Department's Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge to subvent the cost of accommodation for students staying with Gaeltacht households approved under the scheme. It is expected that this will resume in the new academic year, having been cancelled over the past year due to the pandemic.
Both I and my officials are continuing to engage with the summer colleges sector on foot of the decision to cancel courses this summer. The overall purpose of this engagement - which includes discussions with a representative group of Gaeltacht accommodation providers, is to tailor insofar as possible, suitable stabilisation measures with a view to ensuring the sector is on a sound footing for a full and safe return in 2022.
Needless to say, my Department continues to keep under constant review how best to further support and develop the sector within available resources and in a way which best supports the overall objectives of the overarching 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 and in turn, the Irish language and Gaeltacht regions.
