€2.2m fund announced for Gaeltacht families who provide summer college accommodation

A €2.2 million fund has been set up to support Gaeltacht families who normally host summer college students.

Minister for Tourism, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, and Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport, Jack Chambers, announced the fund following the cancellation of Irish language summer courses for the second summer in a row.

In early May, it was confirmed that Gaeltacht summer courses would not go ahead for the second consecutive year, due to the pandemic and associated health and safety concerns.

The fund announced by Ministers Martin and Chambers will go to approximately 700 families in the Gaeltacht who normally provide accommodation for Irish language summer college students.

It aims to ensure the continued viability of the sector, and will be funded from the Department's Community and Language Supports Program.

The Department says that as it's the second successive year the courses have been cancelled, there's an increase of 25% for qualifying households on the amount paid last year under a similar measure.

This means that where households received €4 per student last year, they will now receive €5.

The Department will now contact the participating households and set in motion the process for receiving and processing fund applications.

It says discussions are ongoing with the umbrella group of Irish language colleges, and community hall representatives, in order to find a suitable support mechanism for them.