Ms Aisling Moran:

We thank our local Deputies and members for inviting us to this meeting of the joint committee. We are honoured to be here and feel passionate about the bachelor of arts in visual arts, BAVA, on Sherkin Island, accredited by the Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT. For those who do not know, Sherkin Island is known internationally and locally as the "Island of the Arts". The BAVA programme is a key driver in the island's economy. It is a grassroots initiative taken by the island community which grasped the key issue of population decline and decided to build an economy through the arts. There are five people living permanently on the island as a result of the programme. In a time when traditional island incomes such as farming and fishing are in decline we have created skilled jobs in the community for three roles divided between four people. This brings great benefit to the island.

Approximately €60,000 in funding is required every year to deliver the programme. For an investment of €60,000, a programme valued at approximately €415,000 is delivered by the community, DIT, the West Cork Arts Centre and voluntary input. We market Sherkin as the island of the arts. We have done surveys - further surveys are needed - which show the economic spin-off of the bachelor of arts in visual arts programme for the area is approximately €150,000. The BAVA programme provides value for money and is a very successful arts course. It is a full-time four-year degree programme accredited by DIT. Students attend classes on site for four years every alternate weekend. Classes are held in a local community hall. The facility is nothing fancy, which proves that high-end quality education can be delivered anywhere.

The programme was established by the Sherkin Island Development Society, DIT and the West Cork Arts Centre as a degree course in 2007, following a successful pilot programme which ran from 2000 until 2006. As the community partner, SIDS is responsible for accommodation and facilities, including the community hall, and direct employment of an arts facilitator, information technology facilitator and administrator. Between 2012 and 2016, the programme was co-funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Cork County Council. In May 2016, the co-funding agreement was altered to provide that the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht would contribute 60% of funding and Cork County Council would contribute the remaining 40%. The costs are broken down as €45,000 for wages and employers' pay-related social insurance, PRSI, and €15,000 for running costs, which include maintenance, insurance, professional fees, rent and materials. The course provides value for money.

Within these four walls, in this great building, the Government and local authorities are seeking measures to tackle depopulation and other problems in rural Ireland. The Sherkin Island community has an innovative programme which it wants to keep and secure for the future. The bachelor of arts in visual arts is tried and tested. It provides employment, directly supports 5% of the full-time residents on the island, brings inward investment and contributes to the island's social, cultural and economic life. As the island of the arts, Sherkin Island has a sustainable tourism product. We are a big part of the Wild Atlantic Way and cultural Ireland. The BAVA programme is a significant part of our identity in west Cork. It drives the reputation of the island as a centre of culture and the arts. It is a service for which there is a demand and need. For this reason, we need to keep it and secure its future.

We need preapproved funding for communities so that we do not have to have €60,000 upfront every year. It is a big ask for a small community to find that amount of money and to decide whether to borrow it and pay interest on it. We thank all our partners, particularly our funders in the Department who have been on board and supported us down the years, as well as Cork County Council which has committed to another three years in funding. It looks like we have secured the funding going forward and we are looking for a sustainable way to make this programme work. It is a massive draw, not only to Sherkin Island but to west Cork and rural Ireland. It does not have to be done in arts - it can be for any type of education. We have lost our primary school and we are struggling to get an education for our kids at primary level so it is important to hang on to our arts degree programme on the island. We will tackle the primary school issue in another way but we have to hang on to some level of education and the arts are a huge part of our identity.

Ms O'Neill Collins will talk about the arts side of the programme. She is an artist, a facilitator, and islander and a founder of this. She is passionate about it and she knows the arts inside out.