Written answer
Early Childhood Care and Education
52. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the progress to-date on development of the national plan to further the development of Irish language provision in the Early Learning and Care and school-age childcare; the timeline for the publication of the plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49956/25]
Comment on this
The Department is working in collaboration with other relevant Departments and Agencies to develop a national plan to further the development of Irish language provision in the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) sector. The development of such a plan is a commitment in the 5-Year Action Plan for the Irish Language.
The national plan is expected to support the delivery of two commitments in First 5 (the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families): “Introduce measures to ensure that children in Gaeltacht areas have access to Irish-medium ELC provision” and “Develop mechanisms to provide Irish-language supports to ELC provision where there are high proportions of children who are learning through the medium of Irish”.
The plan is also expected to support the delivery of commitments in the Programme for Government to: “Support naíonraí and creches to ensure early education access in Gaeltacht communities and beyond” and “Plan the development of State-led facilities in tandem with the school building programme, including Irish-medium naíonraí”.
A survey of Irish-medium ELC and SAC settings including childminders was undertaken in 2022-2023 to obtain a baseline of the current level of Irish-medium provision in the sector.
A public consultation and a programme of research, including a literature review, took place in 2024. A consultation with children has also recently been completed.
In addition to the focus on the provision of Irish-medium ELC and SAC services, it is anticipated that the new national plan will also include measures to support English-medium ELC services to work within the updated Aistear early childhood curriculum framework, which was published in December 2024. The updated Aistear includes an aim of supporting young children to have an awareness and appreciation of Gaeilge and our cultural and linguistic heritage.
It is intended that the Plan and associated consultation reports will be published in the coming months.