Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I greatly welcome the commitment given by the Taoiseach to increase Government spending in the next seven years in the arts and culture sector on a trajectory that will see funding doubled by 2025. My Department and I continue to work rigorously with the Taoiseach and all of my Government colleagues towards delivering on this commitment.

A first and significant step in the delivery process has been Project Ireland 2040 which gives explicit recognition to the importance of our culture, language and heritage to our sustainable development in the next decade and beyond. This recognition is underpinned by the unprecedented commitment made by the Government to invest €1.2 billion in our culture, language and heritage in the ten-year implementation period of the national development plan. In April I was delighted to launch my Department's sectoral plan, Investing in Our Culture, Language and Heritage 2018 to 2027. The plan sets out significant investment on a phased basis in the next ten years, prioritised across three areas, namely, €785 million for culture, €295 million for heritage and €178 million for our language. This level of investment will transform cultural and heritage infrastructure across the country. It will go a long way towards honouring the commitment to double the Government’s spending on the arts, culture and heritage.

On current funding, allocations fall to be determined annually as part of the Estimates process. In 2018 total current funding for my Department increased by €11.5 million, or just under 5%, to €248.659 million, including an additional €2.8 million for the Arts Council, an additional €1.7 million across all of the national cultural institutions, just under €1 million in additional funding for the heritage programme and an extra €1.4 million for the 20-year strategy for the Irish language. The cumulative impact of these funding increases is further testament to the commitment to double Government spending in the arts, culture and heritage sector. The Estimates for 2019 are due to be presented on 9 October. I can assure the Deputy of my ongoing commitment to achieve the best possible result for the arts and culture sector within the parameters set out in the summer economic statement and mid-year expenditure report published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

See this speech in context