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Minister of State Kyne has sanctioned an increased grant of €450,000 to Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta over a three year period

The Chief Whip and Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and the Islands Seán Kyne announced today, 3 December, that he has sanctioned an increase of €450,000 over a period of three years to Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta (CNNG) to provide additional support to the early education sector in the Gaeltacht. This allowance is in addition to the three year allowance worth up to €810,000 which the Department sanctioned last June.
This additional allowance has been sanctioned to the sector in accordance with 2.11 of the Government's Action Plan 2018-2022 which was launched in June.
This allowance will enhance the implementation of both the language planning process and the education policy for the Gaeltacht, which is central to the execution of the Government's Action Plan 2018-2022 for the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language. CNNG will use the extra allowance to:
Employ an additional officer
Bring under its remit three additional early education services under the Pre-school and After School Scheme which will henceforth be administered by the sector - on behalf of the Government.
Make available services which operate through the Irish language as well as the development and provision of awareness material.
This is over and above the annual funding - worth €535,000 in 2018 which Údarás na Gaeltachta provides to Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta and sanctions the total three year allowance worth €1,260,000.
Along with this allowance, which is for the enhancement of early education services in the Gaeltacht, the Department announced in the summer that the maximum capital assistance available under the Department's Community and Language Supports Programme for facilities in the sector has increased from 80% to 95%.
The Minister said: “With the announcement of these extra supports, a great step forward has been taken which will be of benefit to young families in the Gaeltacht who are raising or who would like to raise their children speaking Irish. As a result of the increased funding being made available to Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta and the extra capital assistance that my Department will be able to provide to the Irish Language early education sector in the Gaeltacht, we will be able to further assist the sector and ultimately, the young families of the Gaeltacht to advance the Irish Language. As a result of this, the successful implementation of the language planning process, which is now gathering momentum all over the Gaeltacht, will be greatly enhanced.”


Editor's Notes:
The Department sanctioned a grant of €810,000 to CNNG over a three year period last June in order to:
Employ an additional two assistant officers
Bring on board 8 additional services in 2018, 6 services in 2019 and 6 services in 2020 (20 in total)
Administer, on the Department's behalf, the Pre-school and After School Scheme
Provide assistance and support to 20 services currently operating through the English language, to encourage the use of the Irish language in these services and to increase this to 30 in 2019 and 40 in 2020.
Develop enrichment facilities and communicate with 2,500 parents
Provide guidance for naíonraí and nurture links with the primary schools in the Gaeltacht.