Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
536. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the estimated cost of restoring the partial scholarships administered by Foras na Gaeilge for students from the North of Ireland to attend Gaeltacht summer colleges to cover 100 scholarships; and the estimated cost to increase the scholarship per student by 25%, 50%, 87.5% and in line with inflation since the grant was discontinued. [40454/22]
View answerForas na Gaeilge funds an annual Scholarship Scheme which provides scholarships to students, adults and families in order for them to attend Gaeltacht courses.
This scheme aims to provide an opportunity to young people under eighteen years of age who live in the North, as well as adults and families throughout the island, to attend a Gaeltacht course.
The scheme is currently administered by Glór na nGael and Conradh na Gaeilge on behalf of Foras na Gaeilge.
It is important to note that the scheme was not discontinued but was revised in 2019 to place additional emphasis on providing grants to disadvantaged students, as well as applicants from Gaeltacht Service Towns and Networks.
For the period 2020-2022 Foras na Gaeilge made a decision that scholarships for those under 18 would be awarded at rates between €100 - €400.
The total number of scholarships to be provided within this funding is not fixed and is a matter for the organisations administering the scheme on behalf of Foras na Gaeilge.
I understand approximately €70,000 has been provided by Foras na Gaeilge for the scholarship scheme this year. The estimated cost of increasing the funding as requested by the Deputy is set out below.
|
Allocation 2022 |
€70,000 |
|
25% increase |
€87,500 |
|
50% increase |
€105,000 |
|
87.5% increase |
€131,250 |
