merrion street

The Minister of State for the Gaeltacht Patrick O'Donovan T.D. announced today, Friday, February 17th, that he has approved a fund worth €508,640 over a period of two years so that specific schools located in Gaeltacht Service Towns and Irish Language Networks identified under the language planning process will be able to employ a language assistant as part of the language planning process.

The Glór na nGael organisation will be responsible for administering the Scheme on behalf of the Department. It is expected that up to 27 schools that operate through Irish in the seven Gaeltacht Service Towns and in the three Irish Networks that have been identified under the language planning process will be able to benefit from this measure which will begin to be implemented immediately. It is estimated that approximately 25 language assistants could be employed under the Scheme when it is in full swing.

134 schools are already benefiting from the Department's Language Assistants Scheme from all over the Gaeltacht and 113 language assistants are working under the umbrella of the Scheme which is administered by the two organisations Muintearas and Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne on behalf of the Department. The purpose of the Scheme is to support schools to provide additional language enrichment and  acquisition opportunities for the attendees of the schools.

Minister of State O’Donovan said:

"This is a huge step forward that is being taken as additional support for the successful implementation of the language planning process. That process - which is under the overall direction of the Department, is now in full swing in the Gaeltacht Service Towns and the Irish Language Networks that have been identified. It gives me great pleasure as Minister of State for the Gaeltacht to be able to do this. I strongly believe that the Irish language should be supported in this way.”

Lorcán Mac Gabhann, Head of Glór na nGael, said:

"This scheme will definitely have a positive impact on the development of the language in the participating schools. It will be a great and valuable advantage for the communities in the Gaeltacht service towns and the Irish Language Networks. We look forward to working with the community committees, schools, parents and principals in these areas. This is another part of the language planning that connects with other Glór na nGael schemes such as Fondúireacht Sheosaimh Mhic Dhonncha, Céimeanna, Gradaim Gnó na hÉireann, Teanga Tí agus Comórtas Náisiúnta Ghlór na nGael.”

In accordance with measures 2.13, 2.14 and 2.17 of the Irish Language Action Plan 2018-2022 the Departmental fund is being approved under the Department's Community and Language Support Programme.

ENDS

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Note for the Editors

Under the Language Assistants Scheme, financial assistance is provided to further assist schools that fall under its umbrella to provide additional language acquisition and enrichment opportunities for the attendees of those schools.

In addition to the measure mentioned above, the Department has taken the following steps in recent years to improve the scheme: 

• An allowance of up to €4.039m was approved in total over a period of 3 years under the Scheme for the Gaeltacht schools last year.

• Additional teaching hours under the Scheme were allowed for Gaeltacht primary schools with an attendance of more than 100 pupils.

• The Role of the Language Assistant booklet was launched officially andwill be a source of reference, information and support for language assistants, scheme administrators and Gaeltacht school management and teaching teams.

• Additional resources worth €1.02m were approved from the beginning of the 2018/19 school year to enable an additional 32 schools to benefit from the scheme - equivalent to all Gaeltacht schools participating in the Gaeltacht Schools Recognition Scheme. As a result of all this, 134 Gaeltacht schools are benefiting from all these changes compared to 104 schools in 2017/18 and 113 assistants are now employed under the scheme compared to 100 in 2018/19.

The following is a list of schools that could benefit from the additional fund: