Millions for Irish language education spent elsewhere

The department confirmed that it had spent £5m on schools which are already being built.

In a statement to BBC News NI, a DE spokesperson said: “It is for each government department to determine its own spending priorities for capital investment and to ensure that available funding is directed towards projects that deliver the greatest benefit within the constraints of the public finances.”

The department’s statement said that while £1m had been provided to Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta, DE had used the rest of the money “in support of active school construction projects that are already under contract and delivering direct benefits for children and young people”.

“Funding was therefore allocated to project bank accounts for the department’s highest-priority school builds, including Scoil an Droichid, Edendork Primary School and Strangford Integrated College,” they continued.

Scoil an Droichid is an Irish-medium primary school awaiting the completion of a new school building on Belfast’s Ormeau Road.

The statement said that funding for Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta would not have been spent immediately “on school construction projects, rather the majority of the funding would have been held within a trust arrangement for potential future deployment”.

The department’s statement said it was “committed to supporting the growth and development of Irish-medium education within the resources available”.

It also said that DE had invested more than £60m in Irish-medium school buildings over the last ten years, and that four new Irish-medium primary schools, estimated to cost over £13m, were at the planning stage.