Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

As the Deputy will be aware, under measures introduced in the 2009 budget, all Departments and State agencies are to achieve a range of reductions and savings in 2009, both on pay and non-pay expenditure, and the Arts Council is no exception. These include a 3% reduction in the level of its 2008 pay bill, while also meeting the cost of the recently negotiated second pay agreement under Towards 2016, and at least a 50% reduction in its consultancy and advertising budgets.

My Department advised the Arts Council of the requirement when informing it of its allocation for next year and is awaiting details from the Arts Council of its proposals to implement the adjustments. The Arts Council is statutorily independent, under the Arts Act 2003, in its funding decisions and I have no role in funding allocations made by the Council. I have therefore not discussed 2009 allocations by the Arts Council to individual artists and arts organisations.

As Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism I am committed to securing the best possible funding deal for the Arts Council and the arts sector generally throughout the country. By any standards, however, the Arts Council has seen dramatic increases in its funding allocation in recent years, increasing by more than 71% from €47.67 million in 2002 to €81.6 million this year. These are significant amounts of taxpayers' money in any context and have effectively transformed the arts, by facilitating increased access to and participation in the full spectrum of art forms throughout the country. The Government's sustained commitment to the arts is evidenced by the substantial increases in funding, including supplementary funding of €3 million at the end of 2007. The Government is committed to supporting the arts and will continue to work with the Arts Council as part of its programme to achieve that.

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