1286. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide funding for the national roll-out of the Grow It Yourself, GIY, programme to all primary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62336/26]

I can advise the deputy that my department has provided funding to the Grow It Yourself (GIY) programme under our Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) funding call for organisations. However, there is a significant level of competition for the available funding for organisations in the sustainable development space and the department is not in a position to fully fund any one organisation or programme.

Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton, recently announced almost €625,000 in ESD funding for 27 organisations across the country in 2026, including €25,000 for the GIY programme. Other programmes in receipt of funding include An Taisce/ Green Schools, Biodiversity in Schools, Dublin Zoo, Picker Pals, Wisewater Academy and the Wool in Schools programme among others. This funding will support the delivery of ESD in the classroom as well as Teacher Professional Learning and the development of ESD resources. GIY also received ESD funding of €24,000 in 2025.

ESD to 2030, Ireland’s 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development aims to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development in line with target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The strategy is co-sponsored by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in a life-long learning approach.

Further details on ESD to 2030 including a list of all ESD funding grantees is available on our ESD to 2030 webpage: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/national-strategy-on-education-for-sustainable-development-in-ireland

it is the responsibility of each individual school to select the resources that it will use or programmes that it engages with to support its implementation of the curriculum.

The only requirement from the department, on any resource or programme used in a school, is that it is relevant to the curriculum. Ultimately, the decision on which resources or programmes, if any, most appropriately covers the curriculum, rests within the school itself.