From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
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While visiting the Galway Gaeltacht today (7 October), the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport, and Government Chief Whip, Jack Chambers, announced that he has approved an almost 10% or €1 increase in the daily grant payable to Gaeltacht families who provide accommodation for Irish College attendees.
This will mean that €12 instead of €11 per night per student will be payable in future under the Irish Learners' Scheme. This increase will come into effect immediately.
This increase comes after the almost 10% or €1 increase in the grant announced earlier in March – making the two increases an almost 20% increase in the scheme's grant since February.
In addition, the Minister of State has announced that the one-off start-up grant payable to families registering under the department's scheme for the first time is being increased from €2,000 to €6,000 - or 80% of the cost whichever is less.
All of this means that the department will be providing additional funding worth approximately €820,000 for the benefit of the college system accomodation providers, and accordingly for the benefit of the directors and attendees of the colleges.
Minister of State Chambers said:
"I am delighted to be able to announce these additional policies today for the benefit of the Irish language college system. Hundreds of families all over the Gaeltacht are providing accommodation with the help of Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge for Irish language college attendees and they will all benefit from this further increase - the second increase in the scheme's grant this year. These families are of course an integral part of the College system and it is on these families that the department's efforts are largely focused to help the sector in general in financial terms. The increase I have announced will help families already registered under the department's scheme as well as of course attract new families into the system - which will greatly help colleges to be able to function productively."
Pro-rata increases will be made to the daily grant payable under the department's scheme in relation to the specific projects entitled ÁRAINN Gaeltachta and ERASMUS Gaeltachta (more information below).
The overall stated objective of this policy is to support the Irish language and the Gaeltacht in line with the objectives of the government's Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022.
The purpose of Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge - which is the oldest scheme administered by the department, is to support the provision of additional language acquisition and enrichment opportunities in the Gaeltacht for post-primary and third level students in Ireland. It is estimated that approximately 1 million learners have benefited from the scheme since its inception 50 years ago in 1972.
As a result of the announced increase, the department will in future invest approximately €5.5 million annually in the interests of the sector.
An example of the impact of the increase in the grant to €12 on a house with 12 learners:
12 students x 22 nights x 3 three week courses x €1 = €792
The following are details of the pro-rata increases that will be applied in relation to the other specific grants paid under the overall umbrella of the scheme:
| Daily grant | 2019 rate | Increase (March 2022) | Increase (October 2022)** | |||
| Ordinary courses | €10 | €11 | €12 | |||
| College accommodation | €5 | €6 | €7 | |||
| ERASMUS Gaeltachta | €17 | €19 | €21 | |||
| ÁRAINN Gaeltachta | €27 | €30 | €33 |
The figures are based on a rate of 9.09%
It is worth noting that in the case of ERASMUS Gaeltachta and ÁRAINN Gaeltachta respectively, a daily grant is paid which is higher than the normal grant to take into account that there are usually only a small number of students in any particular house in the case of those courses compared to 12 students in relation to the usual summer courses and that accordingly economies of scale are taken into account in the grant level payable in these two cases.
With regard to the one-off start-up grant worth €6,000 or 80% of the eligible cost whichever is less:
The grant will be paid over a period of three years to families who register for the first time under the scheme. Applications will be accepted after 1 November 2022 and an application form and information sheet will be circulated before that. The following are generally the items that will be acceptable for the purpose of the grant (exactly what will be acceptable for the purpose of the grant will be detailed in the application form that will be circulated soon):
These actions are part of a wider set of policies that the department has implemented since 2021 to support the summer colleges sector.
10% increase of the daily Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge grant
February 2022:
Short Gaeltacht Courses 3 days or longer in length to be recognised as an exception this year to support the reopening of the Irish College System
October 2021:
Special Assistance for Summer Colleges announced by Minister Martin and Minister of State Chambers
July 2021:
€240,000 Stabilisation Fund for Gaeltacht community halls announced by Minister of State Chambers
July 2021:
Stabilisation Fund for Summer Colleges Mná Tí announced by Minister Martin and Minister of State Chambers
Two separate funds were also established in 2020; details available on the department's website.