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

As I pointed out to the Deputy, responsibility for most arts centres lies with the local authorities. This evening I will address the local authorities' arts officers and I might mention the challenges they face in regard to the running of arts centres. The Arts Council would have direct contact with the various arts centres because it provides the funding. As the Deputy stressed, the arms length approach certainly prevails when it comes to the Arts Council.

I am prohibited by law from advising arts centres on what to do. If some of the arts centres are funded by my Department through the ACCESS scheme or other schemes, then we would have some lean on those centres. We would have regular contact with centres to which we have provided funding because we have an obligation to ensure the taxpayers' investment is protected as much as possible.

This year, in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland, my Department is also initiating a pilot programme, the Historic Towns Initiative, in Youghal, Westport and Listowel with the Heritage Council and the local authorities in each town. This initiative is intended to promote heritage-led regeneration with the objective of harnessing cultural heritage to create desirable places to live, do business and visit. The redevelopment of Killarney House in Killarney National Park will also be a major tourism asset in years to come. These are but a sample of the overall range of initiatives and programmes my Department is helping to promote, support or guide as a means of preserving the quality and diversity of our heritage, which in turn, is basis for positively promoting that heritage abroad.

On the broader issue of North/South cooperation, my Department’s remit includes the Waterways Ireland and the Language Body (encompassing Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster Scots Agency) which have a key role in tourism and cultural development and my Department also works on a range of issues across the area of built heritage, arts and culture and the natural heritage with public agencies in Northern Ireland where opportunities for co-operation arise.

The Deputy makes many good proposals at Question Time. I take his point because I am connected with a number of arts centres and know the challenges they face. There could be an overall focus on how arts centres structure their businesses in order to survive.

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