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

Three years ago when Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed a Government, Ireland was a very different country, a fact conveniently forgotten by Deputy Barry Cowen earlier. During the term of the previous Government, Ireland had entered into a period of extraordinary turmoil, decline and instability. When we came into office, unemployment had ballooned, our finances were out of control and the State was being kept afloat by an international bailout. This was the first time in our history that we had ever needed this type of support to manage our affairs. Internationally, Ireland had gone from being an economic poster boy to an economic basket case. Our reputation had been severely tarnished. Clear and decisive actions were needed to make Ireland an attractive place to do business once again, to get our finances under control and to tackle the scourge of unemployment.

That work started on our first day of office and continues to this day. Top of our agenda has been, and remains, job creation. Up to 61,000 new jobs were created in 2013, more than 1,000 a week. The unemployment rate has dropped from a high of 15.1% to the current 11.9%. While this is still unacceptably high, it is very much moving in the right direction. Progress is being made on a range of programme for Government commitments in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht which will continue for 2014. We will also support the focus on job creation which is such an important part of the work of every Department.

For example, the film sector, supported by the Department through the Irish Film Board, is one that supports significant employment and also has the scope to grow. Ireland's film and audiovisual sector has seen an expansion of 42% between 2011 and 2013. Only yesterday I visited Ardmore Studios, the venue for the filming of the €33 million series “Penny Dreadful”. This is one example of Ireland's recent success through the enhancements to the section 481 tax relief introduced in the past two budgets. With this, the Department will continue to strongly support film sector and jobs growth over the course of this year. When I visited Ardmore Studios yesterday, the producers of “Penny Dreadful”, Chris King and John Logan, along with its main star, Timothy Dalton, were complimentary of the studios and the Irish crews involved, such as set designers, costumers and make-up artists. I hope this will result in other film and television productions coming to Ireland for filming. It was believed that “Ripper Street” might not return, but last week it was announced it would. The series “Vikings”, a major success in America, will return next season. Recently, I saw “Calvary” at the Jameson Dublin Film Festival, which will be a big hit. “The Lobster”, which will soon be shot in County Kerry, involves big movie names such as Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. It shows how vibrant the industry is. We have an objective to double employment in it to 10,000 over the next three years.

I have also prioritised supporting jobs in the heritage sector. Over 2014, the Department will be focusing on the roll-out of restoration and renovation projects at protected buildings in every county. For this year, €5 million will be invested in heritage buildings from the sale of the national lottery licence and through the built heritage jobs leverage fund. This is the most significant investment in built heritage since 2008, which I hope will also have a strong jobs dividend. It should be remembered that before we took office, funding for built heritage had been reduced from €15 million to €3 million, a major blow for the sector. I am delighted that we will be able to provide funding for this sector through the national lottery licence and fund. There has been a great response from local authorities and we will be assessing their applications.

The programme for Government committed us to expanding private support of the arts. To achieve this, the Department introduced a philanthropy scheme in 2012 and 2013, both of which have helped to encourage arts organisations to build partnerships with potential sponsors. In addition, on my recommendation, the Arts Council introduced the RAISE programme, which is working to significantly enhance fund-raising skills in ten arts organisations. It will be interesting to see how this affects the income of those organisations. The whole idea is to reduce the sector’s dependency on funding from the taxpayer and move it more towards the business sector. We are generous, giving €500 million a year in donations, but the arts sector only gets 0.6% of that. This is probably due to the fact that the arts sector was not good at looking for funds in the past. We will look to increase funding from the business sector. With the economy improving, I hope we can restore taxpayer funding to what it was before the crash too.

However, there is great potential in the private and business sectors to fund the arts which I hope this scheme will encourage. A seed capital scheme to encourage philanthropy will also be introduced this year. An allocation of €300,000 will be provided for a small capital grants scheme. There will be a maximum allocation of €10,000 per project, with up to 70% of the cost of the project to be funded by the Department and the balance of 30% to be funded from the project's own resources or philanthropic sources or a mixture of both. The scheme will be launched shortly and it is a further indication of the ongoing work being done to support the development of a culture of philanthropy in the arts sector. In addition, as part of our commitment to ensure the broadest engagement with the arts, in 2013 a total of €8.3 million was allocated to fund 452 individuals and 872 organisations to tour Ireland. This gives people opportunities to take part in cultural activities, supports a network of venues, festivals and arts organisations and supports employment in the creative sector.

With regard to the decade of centenaries, a series of commemorative projects have been delivered, with the focus to date on milestone events, including the Home Rule Bill, the Ulster Covenant, the 1913 Lockout and the foundation of the Irish Volunteers. The coming programme will include a range of keynote capital projects, seminal exhibitions and a multifaceted cultural programme engaging the public, community and private spheres. A dedicated website, www.decadeofcentenaries.com, has been launched with information on the commemorative events taking place. In addition, €6 million will be allocated in 2014 from the sale of the national lottery licence to help to fund a number of commemoration projects, including exhibition and interpretative facilities at the GPO.

I refer to a new agreement I have entered into with Bank of Ireland at College Green, Dublin. This will result in the development of a new cultural and heritage centre with Bank of Ireland making space available and covering costs and my Department managing, operating and animating the new centre. The bank will provide funding for the refurbishment and fit-out of the 600 sq. m space and the national cultural institutions will provide the curatorial expertise regarding which exhibitions will be held there in the next ten years. This is a major development and I thank the bank and its chief executive, Mr. Richie Boucher, in particular, for the interest he took to ensure this happened. It is a positive expression of support for the creative industries by the bank and a recognition of the importance of the decade of centenaries. There is more footfall on Westmoreland Street than in other parts of Dublin city centre and, therefore, it will be successful.

When open, the public will enter the new centre through the magnificent Gandon-designed portico on Westmoreland Street. More than 600 sq. m of exhibition and performance space is being made available, allowing cultural exhibitions and performances to take place. The programme will have a significant focus on the social, economic and political events of the decade of centenaries, as well as incorporating a strong artistic component. A number of Members have tabled parliamentary questions in the past three years about progress in the provision of a space by Bank of Ireland and I am sure last week's announcement by the bank and my Department will be greeted enthusiastically by all Members.

Work in the preparation of this space for use will continue this year, alongside planning for the delivery of a range of commemorative events, including the foundation of Cumann na mBan and the outbreak of the First World War. There will be a major event shortly to commemorate the establishment of Cumann na mBan. The Women's History Association of Ireland is very much involved. The President will lay a wreath in Glasnevin Cemetery and an academic seminar on the establishment of the organisation will be held in the National Museum, Collins Barracks. It is important to recognise the contribution the organisation made to the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence because it was significant. I would like Members to support these events as much as possible. The all-party committee will be involved, but this will be a significant event because these were extraordinary women who made a major contribution to the establishment of the State.

The programme for Government committed the Government parties to making progress on turf cutting, which has been an issue from some time. The State signed up to the habitats directive in 1992, prior to which all bogs had been surveyed going back as far as the 1980s. A total of 426 special areas of conservation, SACs, had to be designated under the directive, of which 53 were raised bogs. It was then decided to postpone the restriction of turf cutting on these bogs. When I was appointed to office, one of the first things I was told was that the European Commission was taking Ireland to court. The formal notice had been sent to the previous Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Micheál Martin, in January 2011. We had no option but to implement the law, as the State had to agreed to do, otherwise we would have been taken to court and hit with huge fines. We have worked on this issue since and the vast majority of turf cutters on the 53 SAC raised bogs have complied. They have accepted the monetary compensation and we have spent €7.8 million in compensating them in the past three years. We promised in the programme for Government that we would review natural heritage areas, NHAs. This has been done and as a result of the review, 45 NHAs will be de-designated; 36 will be subject to compliance, with no turf cutting after three years, while 25 new areas will be designated to compensate for the active raised bog areas that will be lost. This has been well received generally in the turf cutting community. If we had proceeded with the proposal agreed to by the previous Cabinet in May 2010, approximately 3,000 turf cutters would have been affected. When the additional NHAs are taken into account, only 500 will be affected; therefore, this is a positive reconfiguration based on scientific surveys.

My Department has made a great deal of progress in a number of areas. We have committed to reforming a number of the national cultural institutions. I acknowledge the co-operation of staff with the introduction of shared services, which is important, and in accepting that there will be changes and amalgamation. However, they have been receptive to these changes.

I acknowledge the various sports involved and the various individuals, the chairpersons of those boards and the directors of the national cultural institutions. The numbers of people who have attended the national cultural institutions have been very positive.

The National Gallery of Ireland is being developed. Over €26 million will be spent on upgrading the Dargan and Milltown wings of the National Gallery. They have not been upgraded to any extent since 1864 when they were provided. This will ensure the National Gallery will be one of the best in the world and will have the proper climate, environment and security to bring in exhibitions from all over the world. We need to bring in very valuable paintings that we cannot bring in now. That is a very positive development. More than 300 people will be employed while the work is ongoing in the next two years. It is hoped that this will be one of the seminal projects for the commemoration of the 1916 Rising in 2016. Last Saturday I was in the National Gallery where there was a series of lectures and workshops on the poets and artists of the First World War and that period. I recognise the work of the National Gallery in that respect.

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