Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what the Deputy said about the Heritage Council and the heritage officers. This year we were able to slightly increase our funding to the Heritage Council, taking into consideration the very important work it is doing and to ensure it can continue to support heritage officers. In regard to the whole area of matching funding for buildings at risk, we are trying to spread the €5 million as far as possible. The more generous the grant the less funding there is for distribution. When one breaks it down based on population per county and the number of protected structures in each county, which we are doing, the amount is quite small when distributed to each local authority. We are trying to leverage as much funding as we can for this scheme. We will keep it under review. The reason we have had such a short lead-in time was to encourage people to apply as soon as possible, so work could be carried out and we could evaluate the scheme at the end of the year and perhaps look for more funding next year to continue with it.

Regarding the idea of a donation box, that is something I have encouraged. If one goes into the National Museum next door, one will see a donation box at the entrance. I have encouraged the other national cultural institutions to provide a donation box so that people who want to contribute can do so. The amount of goodwill towards in the National Museum, in the form of donations, is quite significant. It is working very well. I do not know exactly how much money will be collected by the end of the year but it is certainly the case that people are giving generously. In the past, visitors to the National Museum who wanted to make a donation there and then could not do so. On the other hand, it is important to remember that the National Museum, the National Library and our other national cultural institutions belong to the people and access to them should be free. As with many other museums around the world, we can encourage people to make contributions while not charging an entrance fee.

On the Irish Film Board and the question of regional distribution, film making in the regions can prove to be very difficult logistically although with modern technology, that situation is improving. However, taking film crews out of Dublin and into the regions can be very expensive. Overall, the film industry is doing quite well. "Penny Dreadful" is now being filmed in Ardmore Studios, "The Vikings" was completed in Ashford, while "Ripper Street" may be back again in Clancy Barracks. There have been some very positive developments this year. At various international film festivals, Irish film makers, actors, producers and others involved in the industry will be recognised this year. The film industry, despite the cutbacks, is quite vibrant at the moment.

With the drawing up of the financial framework, it was obvious that my Department, like others, would have its budget cut. The Government made a commitment to examine the possibility of using philanthropy to make up the shortfall in funding. My Department introduced a philanthropy scheme. In the first year of operation, we had a very small allocation for philanthropy of €250,000 but that leveraged up to €800,000. In the second year we focused on the arts in education and with a philanthropy budget of €190,000 we leveraged a further €400,000. Parallel to that initiative in the Department, the Arts Council has a programme called RAISE, through which it is funding major organisations to enable them to raise money from business. Business-to-arts funding is very vibrant at the moment. Sporting organisations are very professional at raising philanthropic funding and the arts organisations are getting better at it. In the United States, philanthropic donations are keeping the arts going. Two thirds of the budget of the Lincoln Centre, for example, comes from philanthropic donations, amounting to $900 million. We are trying to encourage the same type of giving to the arts here. The level of philanthropic giving is quite low in Ireland in comparison with other countries, despite the fact that Irish people are very generous overall. We must promote the arts more as a target for philanthropic donations.

Culture Night is going very well and more centres are getting involved every year. The involvement of Northern Ireland last year was a very welcome development. The event received an enormous amount of television coverage in 2013, which was very important. Culture Night involved 34 locations last year and is growing very well. On the extension of the City of Culture concept, once we have gone through all of the cities in the country, it can be extended to larger towns. It happens every four years and it involves a high level of collaboration in the designated cities between the various arts agencies. It is very important to involve the arts community at all times in that. In larger urban areas, it is a way of bringing split communities together. Culture is a great uniter, from a national, European and, most importantly, local point of view.

On the Peatlands Council, I am glad the committee has recognised the work of people like Conor Skehan and Séamus Boland. The members of the Peatlands Council have come up with a very good national peatlands strategy which identifies issues like climate change, flood control, the services that peatlands provide to the farming community through things like pollination and tourism potential. The consultation document, the National Peatlands Strategy, is the first of its kind in this country. It looks at a range of issues and includes some 700 submissions. It has now been put out for public consultation and hopefully it will be added to and improved further. Our peatlands make up 20% of our national landscape and are quite unique in the world. The Irish raised bog is unique and that is why the peatlands strategy is so important. Rural communities are represented by organisations like the IFA and environmentalists are represented by various groups from the environmental pillar. They have all come together to develop a very good national peatlands strategy. I would like acknowledge the leadership of Conor Skehan and Séamus Boland and the work of all those who were involved in developing the strategy.