Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Government policy on the arts is set out in the programme for Government and will be elaborated further in my Department's statement of strategy for 2008-10, which is currently being developed. The objective is to encourage and support the strategic development of the arts in local communities, both geographic and communities of interest, for the disadvantaged and for minority groups. In this regard, my Department has taken a direct role on the provision of capital grant aid for the arts and cultural infrastructure throughout the country in recent years.

The arts and culture capital enhancement support scheme, ACCESS, is a key element in the Government's regional arts strategy and has greatly improved access to and participation in the arts for large numbers of people nationwide. The scheme has been widely acknowledged as a significant intervention in the provision of quality cultural spaces.

Facilities funded to date include integrated arts centres, theatres, galleries, studios, and creative and performance spaces. In this manner the Department provides the bulk of capital funding for building and refurbishing arts facilities around the country, mainly in the not for profit sector, while the Arts Council provides the ongoing revenue support for many of the facilities.

Under the first round of ACCESS, announced in 2001, funding of €43 million was provided to the promoters of 40 arts and culture projects. The majority of these projects were for the provision of new arts centres and most are now open and operational.

The national development plan, NDP, 2007-13 provided €81 million to conclude the first round of ACCESS and to facilitate further rounds. In April 2007 a second round of ACCESS funding was announced and a total of €32 million was offered to the promoters of 67 projects nationwide. The primary focus of the second round of the scheme is the refurbishment and enhancement of existing arts and cultural facilities and it will run from 2007 to 2009. During 2008 my officials will be working closely with the projects which have been offered funding under the second round of ACCESS to enable early delivery of the projects.

I intend to announce a third round of ACCESS next year and am currently considering the timing of such an announcement.

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