Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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51. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the support her Department is providing to local authorities in order to improve access and increase participation in arts and culture at a local level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47866/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Creative Ireland programmeis a cross-Government initiative to mainstream culture and creativity in the life of the nation and to promote individual, community and national well-being. As the Deputy may be aware, the programme is based on five pillars: enabling the creative potential of every child, enabling creativity in every community, investing in our creative and cultural infrastructure, establishing Ireland as a centre of excellence in media production and unifying our global reputation.

The second pillar - enabling creativity in every community - is being implemented primarily through our local authorities. This is because local authorities are the primary instruments of community engagement and have a particular capacity for local programme delivery, especially in the context of citizen engagement.

The culture teams already established in each local authority area under pillar 2 have put a considerable amount of work and time into producing local culture and creativity plans for 2017, which were published last May and included a long list of local cultural projects, events and initiatives taking place nationwide.

An allocation of €2 million was made available - €1 million from my Department and €1 million from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to support the implementation of these plans.

Each local authority is now in the process of drawing up more detailed five year strategic creativity plans, which will be published in early 2018. As part of this development, each culture team is hosting a variety of collaborative workshops, public meetings and discussions across the country to discuss its strategy and future cultural development as well as to listen and respond to local audiences. These strategies will be accompanied by a yearly culture and creativity action plan.

I have already doubled my Department's allocation to the local authority programme in 2018 to €2 million and I look forward to working with the local authorities next year to build on the success of 2017.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. The Minister may remember that on her visit to Moate last Saturday, 5 November, there were a number of organisations we visited that day. One was the Moate Performing and Visual Arts Club. They put on a number of performances on that day and the Minister also visited a number of other key areas in Moate. It is important to note that the Minister is strongly living up to her ethos of developing the arts in rural settings and in making it more inclusive. The Moate Performing and Visual Arts Club has applied for funding under stream 3, which has a maximum cap of €20,000. The club is based in the Carmelite Centre in Moate and was set up in 1998. It fosters huge social inclusiveness and develops a number of key areas such as the Dancezone Stage School and the Moate Youth Theatre. The club brings young people onboard in very difficult circumstances. They do great work there and I would be grateful if the Minister could give an update on the stream measures. I also want to note that the teacher Sandra Julian and all her staff do huge work there.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have fond memories of my trip to Moate, the wonderful Moate Performing and Visual Arts Club and all the young people out and about on the Saturday morning. I remember it well. I know the area has a great local community arts group in them. I visited Moate during a trip to Westmeath last year and I was back in Moate again when the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Michael Ring, and I launched the action plan for rural development.

The Moate Performing and Visual Arts Club is a perfect example of what we want to see as part of the Creative Ireland programme. It is about young people and creative children who are engaging in the arts in our local communities. That is what I want to see. I am glad to tell the Deputy that the club has been awarded a grant of €16,557, under the final tranche of funding of stream 3 of my Department's arts and culture capital scheme. That will support them in putting in a new heating system - I have to admit that it was very cold there last Saturday morning - and to replace windows, along with other important work they need to do. I will make an official announcement later this evening about this funding, but I thought I would share it with Deputy Burke now.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for this update. That investment will be a huge asset to rural Ireland and the area covered by the club. The funding will be well spent. The club will get real value for money. They have huge interaction from the community and the club has put on huge performances in Moate. The community really comes out and shows support. I thank the Minister for her time in this case. I had previously advocated a number of times on this matter with the Minister in the Dáil. The Minister has been very forthcoming. These funding streams are essential for rural Ireland to give people a chance to engage in the arts and to ensure that young people receive a vital chance to get interested in the arts. As the society grows, this will stand to it, and as the economy improves it will also be a huge help to us. I thank the Minister for her time.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy.

I wish to use this opportunity to clarify a point for Deputy Smyth. With regard to Creative Ireland, some funding was set aside to support various high profile and high impact events and initiatives. These were co-curated with key cultural partners and existing prestigious events to communicate and showcase the objectives of the Creative Ireland programme and to encourage increased engagement in creative pursuits across the State. Partnerships were entered into with a good number of events and festivals such as the Baboró international arts festival in Galway, which focuses on children; the Other Voices concert in Belfast; Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Ennis; the Dublin Theatre Festival; the Kinsale Sharks Festival and the National Ploughing Championships.

These are national events and we benefit from our partnerships with them.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The point being there was no official call out for that company.