Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The European capital of culture programme is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Two cities are designated as capitals of culture each year. In 2020, an Irish city will share the designation with a Croatian city. A number of cities are competing for the designation in Ireland and it would be inappropriate for my Department, a national Department, to make funding available to any one city given that they are all competing against each other.

See this speech in context