Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening on the key measures being introduced as part of budget 2017 under the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. As the House will be aware, my Department was expanded when the Government was formed to include a wider portfolio of rural and regional affairs. I am pleased to report that the first budget being delivered for this new broader portfolio includes a number of funding increases across a wide range of schemes that will benefit both the arts and cultural sectors, in addition to communities in rural areas.

I will speak first about the arts, culture and heritage sections of my Department. The year 2016 was a very special one when the nation remembered the pivotal events of 1916 that ultimately led to the foundation of the State. Communities throughout the country responded to the commemorations by staging their own arts and cultural events, which allowed communities nationwide to interrogate and celebrate our history. The year 2016 has been a fantastic one for the arts and culture. At home and abroad, more than 4,500 events have been held under the umbrella of the Ireland 2016 centenary programme. Our artists and creative thinkers helped us to consider the events of 100 years ago and reflect on what has been achieved in this country over the past century.

As the year draws to a close, I want us to build on the positive legacy that has been left by the commemorations. I want to build on the goodwill and engagement we have experienced throughout the year. In particular, I want to see the arts and cultural sectors benefit as the economy continues to improve. I want us to re-emphasise our commitment to supporting creativity and innovation. I am very pleased, therefore, to have announced a series of funding increases for the arts and cultural bodies under my remit. They will have a positive and distinct impact on arts provision throughout the country.

I am allocating an additional €5 million to the Arts Council, which represents an 8% increase on its annual budget. This is the largest increase in its budget for nine years. This additional funding will allow the Arts Council to continue to enhance supports to artists and arts organisations on both a small and large scale, from locally based groups to the Abbey Theatre. All our national cultural institutions are receiving an increase in funding, including an additional €650,000 for the National Museum of Ireland. This is on top of a €200,000 increase in day-to-day funding. The National Gallery of Ireland will receive an additional €1.5 million to allow it to open its newly restored Milltown and Dargan wings. This new expansion and restoration project, which has received more than €30 million in State investment, will transform the gallery into a world-class exhibition space. It represents a very exciting new chapter for this outstanding cultural institution. It is my hope that the gallery's major extension will draw substantial additional visitors every year.

The Irish Film Board will receive an increase in funding in the order of €2 million, delivering on a commitment in the programme for Government. This will bring the board's annual funding to in excess of €16.5 million, representing a 14% increase in the annual budget. The increase in funding, which is in keeping with a commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government, will allow the board to invest in even more Irish talent in the year ahead. It follows on from a very successful year for the Irish film sector in 2016. Of course, this all has a positive effect on rural areas. One has only to look to Kerry and the whole west coast, where "Star Wars" was filmed. This brought a great benefit in terms of bed nights and activity in all the towns the film crew visited.

Culture Ireland, the agency that promotes Irish artists overseas, will receive a €1 million boost in its core funding in 2017. This will allow it to showcase the best of Irish creativity on the world stage. An additional €1 million has been allocated to assist the Heritage Council in its work. This work is done throughout the country. The allocation will have an impact on rural areas as well. Each of the agencies has warmly welcomed the increases in funding. I hope to build on these positive increases in the years ahead.

I have secured an additional €5 million for the delivery of a Culture 2025-Ireland 2016 legacy programme. I will be announcing further details on this initiative in the coming weeks. It will focus on improving arts and cultural provision in communities in addition to a range of other measures. All the measures to support arts, culture, heritage and film reaffirm the commitment of the Government to increase funding progressively for the arts as the economy improves, as committed to in An Agreed Programme for a Partnership Government.

The increase in funding levels across a wide range of agencies and bodies under my remit also reflects the importance which this Government attaches to promoting and supporting our artistic and cultural strengths and supporting jobs in creative industries.

I want to deal quickly with the misconception put forward in the House yesterday that the arts budget is being cut by 16%. This misconception was caused by those who rely on the blunt figures of the budget book for their budget day analysis. To be clear, once-off funding in the region of €49 million was allocated to my Department for the 1916 commemorative programme this year. That money was once-off funding for a once-in-a-generation series of events and, crucially, the majority of the money, roughly €31 million, went towards a series of capital projects, including the new visitor centre at the GPO, Richmond Barracks and the Kevin Barry Room in the National Concert Hall. This money was not repeated this year because these projects have been completed, and indeed they will leave a very positive, lasting legacy of our commemorations. Therefore, if one considers all the key agencies under my Department which fund arts and culture, it will be seen that core funding is up right across the board. This will have a real impact on communities, artists and art organisations across the country and is much more important than figures in a budget spreadsheet, which can be easily misconstrued.

On the rural affairs side of the Department there are increases across a range of schemes which will provide a boost to rural Ireland. I acknowledge what Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said about rural Ireland and assure him that I am fully committed to rural Ireland. I also understand rural Ireland because I live on a farm and know about the cows calving in the middle of the night. I am very conscious that if rural Ireland is to succeed, we need people working in it and enjoying it like the Deputy and I enjoy living in it. I would not want to live anywhere else. It is a matter of revitalising rural Ireland. As committed to in the programme for a partnership Government, an enhanced town and village regeneration scheme will be delivered in 2017. I have trebled the funding for the scheme in 2017 from the baseline amount of €4 million to €12 million. This will allow for continued co-operation between communities, including local business and local authorities, to enhance amenities and facilities that improve the quality of life for locals. This is very much a bottom-up approach. It will consist of local people identifying the solutions for their area and my Department supporting them and working in conjunction with the local authorities. People must come forward. There are many good ideas and plenty of energy in rural Ireland and in the towns and villages across the country. It is a matter of harnessing that and using it to good effect.

I also intend to run a pilot scheme in 2017 to encourage more residential occupancy in towns and villages. Details on this scheme are being finalised by my officials. Funding is also being made available for preparations for the roll-out of broadband under the national broadband plan in 2017. The House will be aware that my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, has allocated significant funding for both the roll-out of the national broadband plan and the improvement of mobile coverage in rural areas. The increase in funding for the Heritage Council will also benefit communities in rural Ireland, and the built heritage investment scheme will operate again in 2017, as will continued support of our archaeological and built heritage. There will also be increases in the recently reopened CLÁR scheme and the rural recreation schemes in 2017. Of course, recreation is so important in rural Ireland for the development of those amenities, not just for the people who live there, but also to attract tourists into such areas.

While these initiatives will individually make a contribution to rural development, it is their combined impact, along with other initiatives across Government, which will make a real and sustainable difference to rural Ireland. Co-ordination of these initiatives right across Government will be delivered through the action plan for rural development. Work on the action plan is well under way and I will publish it later in the year.

The budget includes a number of positive measures from my Cabinet colleagues which will have a very positive impact on rural Ireland. For example, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, has announced details of a new low-cost finance scheme for farmers, while the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, has announced improvements to the farm assist scheme and has increased the number of spaces on the rural social schemes. This is a strong indication of the cross-departmental approach this Government is taking to tackle the challenges facing rural Ireland. My Department will continue to prioritise the support of the Irish language and the sustainable development of our island communities in 2017. Funding allocations for Gaeltacht support schemes and Irish language support schemes are both being increased for next year. Funding is also being increased for the 20-year strategy for the Irish language which will allow for this essential strategy to be further progressed in the year ahead. Údarás na Gaeltachta, which provides critical support for enterprises in Gaeltacht areas, will receive an allocation of €3.2 million for its current programme expenditure and maintain its capital allocation of €6.687 million. Combined with an extra capital allocation of €2.4 million, which has been secured for it this year, this will allow the agency to continue to support job creation in Gaeltacht areas.

My colleagues, the Ministers of State, Deputies Michael Ring and Seán Kyne, will speak to the House in greater detail on the areas of the Department dealing with regional development and the Gaeltacht.

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