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Budget 2026
TG4 the big winners as Budget 2026 delivers major increase for Gaeilge and Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht Minister Dara Calleary has secured the largest increase ever for the Gaeltacht, up more than €50m to €159m for 2026.
(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann nua Gaeltachta. Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo.)
A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE of over €50m in funding for the Department of the Gaeltacht was announced during the 2026 Budget speech by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Jack Chambers in Leinster House earlier this afternoon.
According to Chambers’ speech, €158.9m will be made available to the Department of the Gaeltacht for the Gaeltacht, Irish language and the Islands in 2026, up from €106.9m announced for the Irish language and Gaeltacht on Budget Day last year. There was an additional allocation of €17m for the islands in Budget 2025. The total increase for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht in 2026 is €36m.
In addition, €65.4m will be made available to TG4 to, as Chambers explained, “ensure high-quality Irish language content, children’s programming and wider news services”.
Last week, speaking in the Dáil, junior minister Niamh Smyth promised that her senior minister, Dara Calleary, would be breaking down the doors to secure additional funding for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht:
I have no doubt that the Minister will be kicking down doors to ensure there is an increase in the allocation for the Gaeltacht and the Irish language in Budget 2026.
With an increase of €52.1m in the overall Gaeltacht, Irish language and Islands budget for 2026, it’s clear that Dara Calleary’s raid on the Government coffers was more succcessful than the efforts of previous Gaeltacht ministers.
If the additional €5.4m for TG4, which comes from the Department of Communications allocation, is taken into account it is more than the alternative budget proposed by every opposition party – except Sinn Féin.
In Sinn Féin’s alternative budget, the party proposed an additional €73.6m to be invested in the Gaeltacht and the Irish language. Labour in its document proposed an additional €43m. The amount mentioned by People Before Profit is an additional €55m and the Social Democrats proposed an additional €35m.
It is certainly easier for opposition parties to propose large increases – they are not the ones who make the decisions but it shows a positive result of Conradh na Gaeilge’s campaigning and petitions that all opposition parties are in agreement that significant investment is required.
TG4 Director General Deirdre Ní Choistín welcomed the increase in TG4′s funding, saying in a statement from the broadcaster that the €5.4m increase is the second largest in history.
“TG4 has been going from strength to strength due to increased investment from the Government in recent years,” said Ní Choistín.
Our audience has grown steadily as a result of this investment – we now have a 2.3% audience share.
“We look forward to continuing to build on our relationship with our audience throughout 2026 and to providing our audience with high quality content on all platforms.”
It is understood that an additional €2m increase has been allocated to Údarás na Gaeltachta and €2m has been committed to An Foras Teanga (the cross border body for language). Foras na Gaeilge is part of An Foras Teanga but none of the €2m will be available unless the Northern Executive agrees to stump up €25 for every €75 coming from the Dublin Government.
The lack of funding for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht was a strong theme at the recent rights protest in Dublin. Various speakers highlighted the lack of support for the Irish language over the years.
As Conradh na Gaeilge explained in the organisation’s pre-budget submission they sent to the Government before the budget was published:
“The Irish language and the Gaeltacht have never been given sufficient ambition or priority in State expenditure, north or south.
“This is illustrated by the fact that in 1956 only 0.15% of the total State expenditure in the south was spent on the Irish language and the Gaeltacht, and in the years leading up to 2025 that expenditure has fallen to 0.10% in the Gaeltacht Department.”
According to Conradh na Gaeilge’s estimate, the increase, when projects which have already had been committed to them are taken into account, amounts to €28m.
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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