Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2024
53. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the actions she is taking to overhaul Foras na Gaeilge as a funding mechanism for the Irish language sector, funding for which over the last number of years has stalled in comparison with funding in other areas in her portfolio, such as arts and heritage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17021/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraForas na Gaeilge is one of the agencies of the North South Language Body the budgets for which are approved by the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC).
As the Deputy will be aware, in the absence of the North South Ministerial Council over the past number of years, all North South Bodies faced many challenges, including those of a budgetary nature.
My Department along with the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland, are co-sponsors of the North South Language Body. Foras na Gaeilge is co-funded on a 75% basis by my Department and 25% by the Department for Communities in the north. Accordingly, all matters relating to the North South Language Body's budget are jointly agreed with the Department for Communities and must then be approved at meetings of the North South Ministerial Council.
My Department has an increased allocation of €700,000 available for North South Cooperation in its budget for 2024. With the recent return of the Executive in the north, officials in my Department continue to liaise with their counterparts in the Department for Communities regarding the 2024 budget. Once agreed, this budget will be brought to a future North South Ministerial Council meeting for final approval.
Notwithstanding these challenges, my Department has in recent years provided funding for a number of Foras na Gaeilge projects and initiatives. In both 2022 and 2023, once off funding of €300,000 was approved for Clár na Leabhar Gaeilge. This programme, aimed at providing support to Irish language writers and publishers, forms a vital element of the work carried out by Foras na Gaeilge. In 2022, €300,000 was also approved for Foras na Gaeilge’s dictionary projects (Irish-Irish and Irish-English). Over the coming months, I hope to be in a position to approve further funding for both of these areas.
In addition, my Department has also allocated significant funding to Foras na Gaeilge outside of the NSMC financing arrangements towards implementation of the language planning process in non-Gaeltacht areas .
While there have been challenges around the funding of Foras na Gaeilge in recent years, it should be noted that the Government has significantly increased funding for the Gaeltacht and Irish language sectors over the past 4 years and that, for the first time ever, over €100m is available to my Department for language-based programmes in the current year.
My Department has also been very proactive in finding other ways of supporting and developing the Irish language throughout the country through direct funding to the Foras na Gaeilge's six lead organisations for specific programmes under their remit.
Officials in my Department continue to work with their counterparts in the Department for Communities and I hope that, over the coming months, further progress can be made in overcoming the challenges facing the North South Language Body.
