Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

To date, €14 million has been drawn down from the total commitment of €15 million from my Department to the European Capital of Culture. Of this €14 million drawn down, €13 million has been spent on the development, production and delivery of the key projects under the Galway 2020 cultural programme, most of which were set out in the original winning bid book.

From the date of signing in November 2018 of the performance delivery agreement between my Department and Galway 2020, and as per the terms of the agreement, my Department has and continues to be in regular receipt of detailed information on how funding from my Department is spent. This information includes comprehensive quarterly management reports providing progress updates on all aspects of the Galway 2020 project, including the cultural programme, as well as a breakdown of project income and expenditure, which is confirmed through quarterly checks by an independent auditor. Relevant quarterly reports are reviewed by my Department as part of the controls in place in advance of the approval of funding drawdowns.

Furthermore, under the terms of my approval in July 2020 of the restructured cultural programme for Galway 2020, which was developed in the wake of the impact of the pandemic on activity, my Department meets with Galway 2020 on a fortnightly basis to discuss and review project progress. Also under the terms of the approval, my Department received a monthly written report from September 2020 to April this year on all cultural programme projects supported by Department funding. This monthly report provided information on events planned and delivered, health and safety measures in place, identified risks and mitigation, communications and audience development measures.

In addition, the cultural partners supported from Department funding are completing post-project evaluations with Galway 2020. These evaluations provide information on the numbers employed in each project, the number of events held, partnerships developed, audience numbers, volunteers engaged and income and expenditure. My Department receives and reviews the reports as they are completed.

Finally, and as advised to the Deputy on the floor on 22 June last, the overall monitoring and evaluation programme of Galway 2020 is now at an advanced stage. The final report from this programme, scheduled for delivery before year end, will include results on the number of cultural organisations supported, the jobs created to deliver the programme, new projects commissioned, events held, audience numbers and a breakdown of the total income and expenditure.

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