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

The Deputy mentioned the local authorities received a funding allocation of €3 million last year. That was made up of €1 million from my Department, €1 million from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and €1 million from IPB Insurance. That allocation funded more than 3,500 events nationwide. There was a wonderful collaboration between local authorities and the 2016 programme. They did tremendous work and made a small amount of funding go a long way.

Funding under Creative Ireland is enabling money to put culture and creativity at the centre of communities in every county in the country. It is important that the €1 million for local authorities is not viewed in isolation.

We are increasing funding across the board. As the Deputy is aware, I increased the funding to the Arts Council by €5 million in the 2017 budget. This will support arts groups all across the country. Likewise, I increased funding to the Heritage Council by €1 million, and we all know the fantastic work that body does, particularly as part of National Heritage Week, which again involves a group-up approach at community level. I was also delighted to announce recently the €9 million arts and culture capital scheme in Cavan.

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