David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Tourism; Culture and Sport her role and responsibilities in relation to the development of cultural institutions and activities and their promotion to the public, in particular young people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20673/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The stated mission of my Department is "to enrich Irish society by supporting the growth of a competitive and sustainable tourism industry and increasing access to and participation in sport, the arts and culture". Having particular regard to the cultural sector, my role as Minister is to recognise the social and economic roles of that sector by promoting and encouraging artistic expression, cultural awareness and participation through an appropriate policy, legislative and resource framework. Inherent in this role is the formulation, development and evaluation of policy and structures to create an environment that enables arts and culture to flourish, the development of the national cultural institutions and supporting the development of other arts and cultural projects at national, regional and local level.

The State's national collecting institutions provide access to their extensive and impressive collections free of charge. All of our national cultural institutions provide free educational and family friendly events throughout the year, which have particular appeal for the younger audience. While my Department provides funding to our national cultural institutions, the board of each institution is responsible for all operational matters relating to it and I do not have a statutory function in respect of day-to-day operational matters.

My Department also provides funding to certain other cultural bodies that hold collections of national importance or collections that are unique and relate to matters of national interest or international culture. These institutions and their collections are accessible to the public. They include the Hunt Museum, Limerick, Archbishop Marsh's library, the Hugh Lane Gallery, the Irish Architectural Archives, the Irish Manuscripts Commission, the National Print Museum, Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Limerick and the Science Gallery.

In addition, funding is provided to projects that meet specific cultural needs and support the high level goals of my Department. Without detailing these individually, they include projects that enhance Ireland's cultural patrimony and access to it, for example, digitisation, reproduction, translation and-or publication of historical documents, including the digitisation of the 1901 and 1911 censuses, the translation of the History of the Capuchins in Ireland and the church records project.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. Regarding the Arts and Cultural Capital Enhancement Support Scheme, ACCESS, has she any plans to launch an ACCESS III?

Her Department's statement of strategy notes the need to seek business sponsorship for culture, arts, film and so on. What has been done in this regard and what plans has she? The statement also refers to appropriate grant schemes being made available. Will the Minister provide the House with information on what grant schemes are available for small local drama and culture groups as opposed to national groups, as the former are suffering through a lack of funding?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Regarding the question on the ACCESS programme, 40 projects were funded between 2001 and 2004 to the tune of €43 million. The subsequent ACCESS II programme, which will provide €81 million, has seen 63 successful projects announced to date accounting for grants totalling €32 million. A number of these have already been completed, including the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Druid Theatre, Cork Opera House, Waterford's Theatre Royal, the Gallery of Photography and the Irish Film Institute. The scheme is running, but there are no proposals to open it up for new applications.

Regarding the Deputy's question on commercial sponsorship for the arts and culture, I see it more in terms of philanthropy than sponsorship. There is considerable potential, given the contribution of the likes of people such as Ms Loretta Brennan Glucksman or Ms Carmel Naughton. They are both women, but the potential for any individual to support the arts and culture in a philanthropic way as opposed to in terms of the branding and commercialism used in other areas is significant. What was the final question about?

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Grant schemes.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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And local groups.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There are various grant schemes, but I will forward the details to the Deputy.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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How many people are employed in the Department directly in respect of the cultural aspects of its portfolio? Will the Minister update the House on the National Concert Hall?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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We have a small Department which works hard. There is a staff of only 108, which breaks down into three parts. There is an assistant secretary in charge of sport, another for culture and a third for tourism. Each of them is backed up by a small team that does tremendous work.

The National Concert Hall is one of the major capital projects we would like to progress. All capital projects have gone back for review to see if we can get better value. I do not have a go-ahead on it yet, but it is something I would like to see proceeding.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Minister mentioned Access 2 and the fact that it was ongoing. Is there an overhang of commitments and is the Minister aware of how much is still outstanding on Access 2? How much does the Department still owe?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have the specific figures. Some 63 projects were initially announced for €32 million. An additional 13 projects were then announced and €10.29 million in grant aid was given in May 2008. Some 27 of the projects had been completed up to the end of 2009. A further 22 projects have yet to draw down grant aid. These projects have been delayed for a number of reasons - a lot of them from a failure to provide the obligatory matching funding. Some of them have planning difficulties, while some have failed to complete the necessary legal agreements to provide the Department with the required legal charge on the property. I suspect the bigger one is probably a failure to come up with matching funding.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister have any concrete plans to encourage philanthropy and support it? Will she examine that whole area, which is a lucrative one for arts and culture? Can she tell us what she is planning to do in the near future regarding the encouragement of and support for philanthropy?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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It is an issue that was being led by the Department of the Taoiseach a year or two ago, because it is wider than culture alone. However, culture is one of those areas that could benefit from philanthropy, so I will be following it up at that level.