Ms Teresa McGrane:

I thank the committee very much for the invitation here today. We are delighted to meet the members and to talk about the Creative Europe programme. As the Acting Chairman has outlined, it is timely because of Europe Day. We would also like to talk about some of the other activities we do within the audiovisual and culture sector around our partnerships with Europe. We have prepared an opening statement and have given some background briefing notes. We also will leave for the committee some further background briefing documents on the programmes.

Creative Europe is the European Union's funding programme to support the culture and audiovisual sectors. First launched in 2014, the programme saw the previous media and culture programmes come together under one umbrella with a cross-sectoral funding strand addressing both sectors. The Creative Europe Programme 2021-2027 was agreed and publicly launched in May 2021 and has a budget of €2.44 billion, which represents a 50% increase on the previous programme.

The media strand supports the European film and audiovisual industries to develop, distribute and promote European works, as well as funding markets, networking and training opportunities. The culture strand supports a wide range of cultural and creative sectors, as well as encouraging co-operation and exchanges amongst cultural organisations and artists at European level. The cross-sectoral strand aims at reinforcing collaboration between the different cultural and creative sectors, in order to help them address the common challenges they face and find innovative new solutions.

Through the previous media funding programme from 2014 to 2020, €13 million was awarded to more 80 Irish companies across film, documentary, animation, TV and, more recently, in video games sectors. Almost €2 million of the overall €13 million was awarded to the audiovisual and video games companies in the west of Ireland, with €500,000 invested in Gaeltacht companies, representing 3.8% of the total Creative Europe media funding to Ireland.

Beneficiaries include the Cork International Film Festival, the Galway Film Fair, all of Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar-nominated animated features and, recently, Element Pictures’ Oscar-winner, "The Favourite".

Through the culture funding strand, 98 Irish organisations were involved in projects and activities, with more than €6.3 million coming directly to these organisations. The successful projects featuring Irish partners covered a range of art forms including visual arts, dance, music, theatre, literature, circus, craft, architecture, design and cultural heritage. Some notable and interesting projects include: Craft Hub, led by Carlow County Council; Cultural Adaptations with Axis, Ballymun, and Codema, Dublin; and Keychange, with First Music Contact and the Irish Music Rights Organisation, IMRO.

Despite the delayed launch of the first funding calls in June 2021 and a shortened application window, the 2021 results for Ireland have been very positive. While all results are not yet available, the funding total for Ireland to date is €4.6 million: nearly €2.3 million from the media strand; over €1.8 million through the culture strand, and €540,000 under the cross-sectoral strand.

I will now turn to innovations in the new programme. There are a number of welcome changes to the programme intended to facilitate greater access and offer more targeted supports to the cultural and creative sectors across Europe, recognised by the EU as having been adversely affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The expanded programme provides new opportunities for the Irish cultural and creative sectors including higher co-financing rates in order to expand access to the programme; support for artists and creative professionals to apply directly under the artists’ mobility strand; support for new sectors such as news media, fashion and sustainable tourism; creative innovation lab; support for journalism partnerships and media freedom and pluralism; stronger emphasis on transnational creation and innovation to make the audiovisual and cultural sectors more globally competitive; targeted sectoral supports including the music, architecture, and cultural heritage sectors across Europe; European media and audiovisual action plan; and media invest, which is a new equity fund designed to help fund the post-pandemic recovery of Europe's audiovisual industry, to be launched in May of this year.

Creative Europe Desk Ireland is the designated contact point for the Creative Europe Programme 2021 – 2027. The national co-ordinator for the desk is Screen Ireland, which is delegated by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and there are three information desks focusing on the cultural and creative sectors across Ireland. The cultural office is based in the Arts Council and is funded by the Creative Europe programme with matched funding from the Arts Council. Katie Lowry and Aoife Tunney are joint heads of the culture office.

The MEDIA office in Dublin is a company limited by guarantee and has an autonomous board of directors. The office is funded by the Creative Europe programme with matched core funding from RTÉ and Screen Ireland, and receives funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, sectoral development fund for events. Orla Clancy is the head of the MEDIA office in Dublin, which has a national remit to advise the audiovisual sectors on the Creative Europe programme. The MEDIA office in Galway is a company limited by guarantee and has an autonomous board of directors. The office is funded by the Creative Europe programme with matched core funding from Údarás na Gaeltachta, TG4, Screen Ireland and Ardán, and receives funding from the BAI sectoral fund. Eibhlín Ní Mhunghaile is the head of the MEDIA office in Galway and works closely with the Dublin office, while also prioritising the audiovisual sectors in the Gaeltacht regions and the west of Ireland focusing on Irish-language projects.

The three offices share responsibility for the cross-sectoral strand of the programme and work together to promote the calls, which include the Creative Innovation Lab and a new news initiative with funding calls for journalism partnerships and media literacy.

The remit of the desk is to promote the programmes at local, regional and national level and to provide expert advice and assistance to the Irish cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors in order to facilitate Irish participation in the programme. The desk gives expert advice on how to access Creative Europe funding and works closely with the companies and organisations in the respective sectors to ensure that they submit high quality funding applications.

The desk has an important role in representing the Creative Europe programme on a national and European level and feeds into the European dialogue on EU AV policy. The desk is a key interface between the Irish cultural and creative sectors and the European Commission. It also collaborates closely with the European and national agencies and stakeholders on relevant policy initiatives and strategy.

That is our opening statement. The team is here and happy to answer any questions the committee may have.