Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I thank Fianna Fáil for tabling this Private Members' motion. I add my voice and that of Sinn Féin to endorsing the ongoing positive contribution made by the arts and culture sector to our economy and our society. Arts and culture should not be seen as an add-on or an afterthought. Arts and culture is about who we were, who we are and how we see ourselves. Our culture is not stagnant but is evolving and changing all the time.

The cultural and creative industries are varied and dynamic. They include performing arts, visual arts, heritage, film, television, radio, books, photography, dance and music. The sector has made a massive contribution to our economy. In Ireland, it created 79,000 jobs and contributed €4.7 billion to our economy in 2011. On an EU-wide level, the cultural and creative industry represents 2.7% of Europe's GDP, which is higher than the real estate, food, beverages and tobacco industries. In Dublin, the Temple Bar Cultural Trust continues to put culture and arts at the centre of the capital's economy. Temple Bar supports 400 businesses and had a turnover of €676 million in 2009. One of its most successful projects was Culture Night, an experiment in opening up cultural venues to the public in Dublin. This was a collaborative effort involving the art galleries and theatres staying open late into the night and street performers replacing traffic on the streets. It was so successful that it is now an annual event in Dublin and has become an all-Ireland initiative, with culture nights taking place in Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Belfast, Derry, Letterkenny, Drogheda, Gaelteacht areas, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Offaly, Tipperary, Sligo, Strabane, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow and Sligo.

Arts and culture also has a very important role in rebuilding people's lives and in tackling the consequences of Dublin's drug crisis. RADE is an innovative and imaginative community-based drug rehabilitation project in Dublin's south inner city. Some 21 participants are involved in the programmes of art, drama, creative writing, film and relapse prevention. The programmes involve some of Ireland's leading contemporary artists across all art forms. Artists work closely with participants, guiding them through the processes of awareness, creativity and discovery that are at the core of the arts and expression. RADE's mission is to engage drug users within the arts and therapeutic supports and provide a platform for their artistic expression. To date it has produced films, plays for radio and theatre and art exhibitions.

In the heartland of my constituency, there is the Tallaght Theatre Group, the Rua Red cultural centre, the civic centre, Tallaght Alternative Arts and Entertainment, music and dance groups and a wide range of community-based activity. Our next goal in the Tallaght area is a ceathrú Gaeltacht. This is part of the development plan of South Dublin County Council. Hopefully, we can see it developing with cross-party support. It feeds into the níonra and the meanscoil in that area.

With the current downturn in the economy, it is too easy to use the recession as an excuse to simply cut back on funding to this sector. This is lazy and simplistic and must be resisted. The arts and cultural sector must be seen as a sector that requires co-ordination and investment. The Government must ensure proper and adequate funding is invested in our domestic cultural industry. It requires making our case to the EU. The seventh EU framework programme has €9 billion remaining out a total €50 billion while Horizon 2020 has €79 billion. The EU 2020 Creative Europe fund has €1.8 billion. There is also funding to strengthen the role of local and regional development, including the EU 2020 common strategic framework fund of €376 billion. Money is available.

Sinn Féin proposes a high level working group, possibly chaired by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaelteacht Affairs. The working group must bring together agencies managing EU programmes in Ireland and adopt a thematic approach on culture and creative industries. It should link in with practitioners and organisations in communities. It should develop interdepartmental partnerships and strengthen cross-Border links. It is time we saw the cultural creative industries as a means to create jobs, build communities and improve our quality of life but this will only happen with the right attitude and proper co-ordination. Responsibility for this lies with the Minster for Arts, Heritage and the Gaelteacht.

See this speech in context