Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the carry-over, the €12,016 is for the decade of centenaries. The figure for the Cork Events Centre is €1 million. For the heritage sector the figure is €3.75 million, and the allocation for Teach an Phiarsaigh is €250,000. There is a total of €6.2 million, and that is carried over from last year.

What is important is that in the 2015 budget I have managed to secure the position for the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. We have held the funding and turned the corner. The budget increased considerably compared to this time last year, and as things improve I will continue to fight for more funds for my Department.

The extra money achieved in the budget reflects my own priorities in terms of the decade of centenaries. There was €17.5 million in total, €13.5 million of which was for capital expenditure and €4 million of which was for commemorations. The arts will benefit from that €4 million as well. The cultural institutions will benefit. The Arts Council got an extra €2 million this year, but that was over and above the €4 million allocated. We have €4 million for commemorations, but the cultural institutions will be able to benefit from that fund, so the arts will benefit.

An additional €2 million was secured for cultural institutions and I have a breakdown of that figure. The Deputy mentioned the National Library of Ireland. We work very closely with it and my Department is in constant contact with it in terms of how we can best serve its needs. It was satisfied with the additional €600,000 we were able to allocate to it this year.

Access to the National Archives of Ireland is free. Payment is required for copies taken of the archives, and that practice has been in place for many years. The policy of free access to all our cultural institutions will continue.

The other part of the increase in the budget relates to the €1 million allocated to the peatlands restoration programme and a further €1 million allocated to Údarás na Gaeltachta.

In regard to the additional funding provided to the cultural institutions, many people are working in the creative sectors and they will benefit from the additional funding provided for the commemorations programmes, including €2 million for the commemorations programmes, €1 million for the cultural programme out of the €4 million allocation, artistic projects associated with the major capital projects and the creative and artistic input to interpretations.

The Deputy mentioned provision for artists. The change in the tax relief for artists increased the threshold to €40,000. Research by the Arts Council has shown that there is significant employment in the arts. While of course we would like more to be employed in that sector, perhaps some people have decisions to make for themselves in terms of supplementing their income.

Some 300 high-end jobs have been created in the construction work on the National Gallery of Ireland. Some 200 jobs have been created in the construction stage of the new interpretative centre in the GPO, and that project is progressing very well. Therefore, more jobs have been created in terms of funding for the arts.