To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the amount of funding given to the Intercultural Education Service; and (ii) the number of children the Intercultural Education Service has supported, in each of the last seven years.

The Intercultural Education Service (IES) is a mainstream Education Authority (EA) service and, as such, the Department does not provide earmarked funding for this service. The quantum of funding allocated to IES from the EA’s core budget is therefore a decision for the EA. I understand that the budget allocated to IES has remained largely constant at an average level of £1.261m per annum over the period from 2018 to 2025.

IES has directly supported an average of 824 children per year over the period from 2018 to 2025. This support included an average of 5,204 face-to-face or telephone/video interpreting sessions and 823 Help Desk enquiries per annum. IES also supports pupils through teaching, learning and curriculum support provided to schools and meeting with families, including Asylum Seekers and Refugees who need help to access education.