Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he has had discussions with the Arts Council since budget 2009 on the implications of the cuts on venues, events and artists as well as on Arts Council staff numbers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41832/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under measures introduced in the 2009 budget, all Departments and State agencies are to achieve a range of reductions and savings in 2009, both on pay and non-pay expenditure, and the Arts Council is no exception. These include a 3% reduction in the level of its 2008 pay bill, while also meeting the cost of the recently negotiated second pay agreement under Towards 2016, and at least a 50% reduction in its consultancy and advertising budgets.

My Department advised the Arts Council of the requirement when informing it of its allocation for next year and is awaiting details from the Arts Council of its proposals to implement the adjustments. The Arts Council is statutorily independent, under the Arts Act 2003, in its funding decisions and I have no role in funding allocations made by the Council. I have therefore not discussed 2009 allocations by the Arts Council to individual artists and arts organisations.

As Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism I am committed to securing the best possible funding deal for the Arts Council and the arts sector generally throughout the country. By any standards, however, the Arts Council has seen dramatic increases in its funding allocation in recent years, increasing by more than 71% from €47.67 million in 2002 to €81.6 million this year. These are significant amounts of taxpayers' money in any context and have effectively transformed the arts, by facilitating increased access to and participation in the full spectrum of art forms throughout the country. The Government's sustained commitment to the arts is evidenced by the substantial increases in funding, including supplementary funding of €3 million at the end of 2007. The Government is committed to supporting the arts and will continue to work with the Arts Council as part of its programme to achieve that.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Minister's press and media people are to be congratulated on the positive spin they can put on the worst of news. Unfortunately, the arts community can do sums and it knows how much the reduction is, despite every effort to make it seem as if it was a fraction of 1%. The actual cut to the Arts Council is 10%.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is nothing like that.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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No matter how the Minister tries to dress it up the reduction is 10%. The total reduction is approximately €9 million.

The Minister indicated he is awaiting a report from the Arts Council. To all intents and purposes there is not an Arts Council at the moment because since August it has been operating at half strength. The Minister is aware that five members are needed to form a quorum and it is not always possible to get five people together. Even if it were, it is unreasonable to expect five or six people to make decisions of that magnitude. The cuts will cost jobs to individual artists and perhaps result in the closure or temporary closure of venues at weekends or on week days. There will be a great reduction in activity right around the country as a result of the cuts. It is unreasonable of the Minister not to have nominated a new chairperson and other members to the council. Will the Minister indicate when the appointments will be made and whether the Arts Council has been in communication with him in respect of the allocation to the Abbey Theatre, for example?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I do not accept what the Deputy said and she would not expect me to. There should not be any effect on organisations throughout the country. It has been made clear to the Arts Council that the administrative reduction of 3% in its budget should come from within its own staffing and administrative requirements, which are substantial. That might be difficult in these times but we all face those realities. In fairness, most of the people in the arts to whom I spoke said that in spite of the difficulties they are pleased the arts was not used as the whipping boy, so to speak, in terms of taking the brunt of overall Government reductions and that, by and large, in the overall scheme of things they have done fairly well.

Equally, I do not accept that the Arts Council cannot function at the moment. It has a quorum and the members should get on with their job instead of waiting around. It is important they continue to do their work. They have the capacity to do it and they should move forward.

It is an independent function of the Arts Council to allocate funding to whichever bodies they wish.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the members will make the decision to allocate the greatly reduced funding they have at their disposal. No matter how the Minister dresses it up, it is €9 million less than they had last year and only a fraction of the budget is spent on administration, and a fraction of that is to be saved. Whoever did the spinning for the Minister may have assumed nobody else could do sums but that is not the case.

When does the Minister intend to appoint a chairperson to the Arts Council? Is it true the position has been offered and turned down on several occasions? That is the information I have.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should not believe everything she reads in the newspapers.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I do not believe everything I read in the newspapers but I would like to hear directly from the Minister when a chairperson of the Arts Council will be appointed. The last body for which a board was not appointed, namely, the National Archives, has been more or less abolished.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Mitchell well knows that last point is utterly incorrect and I do not accept it. The allocation to the Arts Council in 2002 was €47.6 million.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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My question was when would the Minister appoint a chairperson.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Mitchell made a comment and I am replying to it. The allocation next year is €75.708 million. That is a huge budget by any standard involving substantial funds. I expect to be in a position to make the announcements with regard to the Arts Council shortly.