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

I thank the Deputy for raising these issues and for her comments on the Creative Ireland plan. She was present at the two consultations in Monaghan and Cavan, which were very well attended. There is great interest in it and there was great feedback. We are going throughout the country to consult. We are listening to people's views and asking them what they think of this, how they can support us in this and how they can work with us.

There are five pillars, namely: enabling the creative potential of every child; enabling culture and creativity in every community; investing in our cultural infrastructure; Ireland as a centre of excellence in media production; and unifying our global reputation. The Deputy asked about the budgetary figures and I will give her the broad outline. A total of €5 million was allocated for the Creative Ireland programme in the budget. This will ensure the programme can deliver on its key deliverables and implement a comprehensive public awareness campaign supported by a high-impact, high-profile events programme. Local authorities have been allocated €1 million and an additional €1 million will be provided by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, which means each local authority will receive approximately €64,000. The local authorities are establishing their creative teams. They will also be a Creative Ireland plan for every county, which will tie into the overall national plan. Cruinniú na Cásca was very successful. It followed on from Road to the Rising in 2015 and Reflecting the Rising last year. We spent €1.25 million on it. Much of the funding went directly to artists in terms of performances and various activities organised on the day, and it was curated by RTE. Approximately 450,000 people came into Dublin city and 100,000 attended events in every county. The notice was a bit short this year, but I hope to work on building a national cultural day on Easter Monday in every county throughout the country.

The public engagement and events will cost €1.6 million. This involves going out and meeting people and consulting with all of the stakeholders.