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

They were all paid through local authorities. I imagine there is a code of practice in place but I am not sure. That was all done by the local authorities. Funding was provided to them and they organised their own cruinniú events in every single county. The festival was very successful and people really engaged on the day. Many events were organised right across the country.

We funded Creative Ireland events at festivals. We approached people who were having festivals. We want to let people know about Creative Ireland and we want more people to engage with the arts. We are committed to increasing participation. We approached festivals to collaborate with us and the funding was set aside to support various high profile, high impact events and initiatives co-curated with key cultural partners and existing prestigious events to communicate and showcase the objectives of the Creative Ireland programme and to encourage increased engagement in creative pursuits across the country. We entered into a number of partnerships with festivals including those outlined by Deputy Smyth such as the Dalkey book festival where we had a presence. The intention was for Creative Ireland to have a presence in various places. A good example of that is the ploughing championships. We took a stand there which was very successful. Performances took place this year. We went to the organisers rather than them coming to us. It was about Creative Ireland having a presence at those events and being part of them and that is why such funding was provided.