Seán Haughey
Question:46. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her plans to support additional households to become host households for Gaeltacht summer colleges. [47532/22]
View answerThursday, 29 September 2022
Questions (46)
Written answers
In order to support language acquisition and enrichment opportunities in Gaeltacht regions for second and third-level students from all over the country - in overall support of the Government’s objectives for the language as set out in the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010–2030 - my Department administers a scheme - Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge (SFG), under which a daily subsidy is payable to eligible Gaeltacht families who provide certified accommodation for those who attend one of the 42 Gaeltacht Irish language colleges recognised under the scheme.
In order to further support the sector, I have introduced a number of measures in the current year:
- An increase of 10% in the daily grant paid to host families under the Department’s Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge at a cost of c. €400,000.
- Provision of a €400,000 fund under the DEIS Gaeltachta initiative to give an opportunity to over 400 students from DEIS post-primary schools to attend a Gaeltacht Course
- Short courses of no less than 3 nights were also allowed under the scheme for this year only as an exceptional measure to further support the sector to re-open.
My officials are currently initiating further engagement in the coming weeks with relevant stakeholders with a view to advancing a number of new measures which will have as their overall objective the recruitment of new Gaeltacht households to the sector as well as the retention of existing Gaeltacht accommodation providers.
The Deputy may be assured that my Department remains committed to supporting the Irish summer colleges sector in line with the relevant commitments contained in the Government's Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022.