Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys.

The Arts Council is set up and operates under the Arts Act 2003. Section 24 of that Act states that:

the Council may, for the purposes of—

(a) stimulating public interest in the arts,

(b) promoting knowledge, appreciation or practice of the arts, or

(c) improving standards in the arts, or

(d) otherwise assisting in the development or advancement of the arts,

advance such amount of moneys as it determines to such persons or in respect of such activities as it considers appropriate out of moneys at its disposal upon such terms and conditions as it determines.

Section 24(2) of the Act states, "The Council shall be independent in the performance of its functions under this section". Although the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht funds the Arts Council providing a total of €58.7 million in 2015, the provisions of section 24(2) of the Arts Act mean that the Minister is precluded by law from having any input in the decisions on how that funding is distributed. The law also precludes her from reviewing or overturning any funding decision made by the Arts Council.

Every year, the Arts Council allocates funding to hundreds of arts organisations in an open and transparent way. The council's website gives details of each of its schemes and lists the allocations made in each scheme. The festivals and events scheme 2015 was open to organisations that promote festivals or events with a clear artistic purpose that will take place in the second half of the calendar year 2015. In making the awards the council recognises the distinctive role arts festivals play in sustaining a vibrant arts profile at a local level. Festivals provide opportunities for audiences and artists to experience new work and ways of making work. The council acknowledges the valuable contribution made by voluntary committees in developing these festivals. The council's website also gives the information that a peer panel made the decision on which events to fund and also publishes the names of the members of the panel on the website. This is done for all festival and event scheme awards.

The Arts Council operates an appeals and complaints procedure, and, like other agencies under the aegis of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is subject to the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012.

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