Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)

I remind the Deputy that we are dealing with capital funding, not current expenditure which has yet to be decided. Hopefully, the arts, heritage and Gaeltacht areas will not take a big hit. I remind the Deputy that my Department was an amalgamation of a number of other departmental sections. The arts, for example, came from the former Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism. The arts budget was reduced from €78 million to under €32 million from 2008 to 2011, under the previous Government. Meanwhile, heritage was reduced from €63 million to under €11 million this year, a drop of 83%, again under the Deputy's party's Government. The budget for the Gaeltacht and islands was reduced from €73 million in 2008 to €12 million this year, which is minus 83%. Even the North-South body's budget was reduced from €11 million to €6 million this year, a reduction of 45%.

I have therefore come from a very low base where massive capital funding reductions have already been impacting on this Department. Hopefully, we will fare better with current funding. I hope to make up some of the loss from the taxpayer by encouraging philanthropists to invest and others to become involved in the arts. In the budget I hope to set up a mechanism through which philanthropy will be encouraged. In addition, we will also get funding from other sources.

I agree with the Indecon report. I have been saying for years that there is a major multiplier in the arts. For every euro invested there could be a tenfold return, which makes perfect sense. Hopefully, current funding will not impact as much as capital funding. In defence of previous Governments, over €1 billion in capital funding has been invested in arts projects, including creative spaces, in this country over the past decade. There has been a major investment therefore in capital projects in the arts, heritage and to a lesser extent in the Gaeltacht areas in the last ten years.

The important thing now is to retain current funding as much as possible so we can retain staff in places like arts centres. We must also ensure there are programmes they can pursue. In addition, Arts Council funding must be protected as much as possible as it funds the majority of these community groups, events and centres around the country.

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