Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 260: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport the plans she has to support the traditional music industry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46319/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department continues to support Irish traditional music and the traditional arts through its capital funding programme provided to various traditional arts organisations and also through funding provided by the Arts Council. Since 2005 my Department has provided over €18m in capital grants to Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann to assist with its regional capital development programme that provide facilities for teaching, rehearsing, recording, performances and session playing.

While Comhaltas is primarily about maintaining our older musical traditions it is worth noting that Comhaltas also embraces modern technology to further its aims. The recently launched Comhaltas Digital Archive Website (Cartlann an Chomhaltais) is a unique resource, which allows those who appreciate our native music and song to enjoy authentic performances from the Comhaltas Archive all over the world.

My Department has also provided €1m in capital funding to Na Píobairí Uilleann who are doing very important work in relation to the preservation and promotion of the art of piping.

The Arts Council provision for traditional Irish music organisations in 2009 was over €2m. As well as supporting individual traditional artists, through bursary and commission awards, the Arts Council funds directly many organisations, festivals and events throughout the country, including the Irish Traditional Music Archive (the largest repository of traditional recordings, images and ephemera in the world, celebrating the intrinsic value of the music, ensuring the continuity of the tradition and its transmission for future generations), Na Píobairí Uillean, Willie Clancy Week and the Deis Project.

The purpose of the Deis scheme is to provide support for traditional arts projects, or projects involving collaboration between the traditional arts and other art forms. Deis supports once-off or short-term projects. Projects funded to date have included those with an emphasis on archival material, audience development, transmission, production and performance, professional development, programming and research.