Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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60. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the roadmap to meet the commitment to double expenditure on the arts and culture in the next six years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39968/18]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister give us her roadmap to meet the commitment to double expenditure on the arts and culture in the next six years and make a statement on the matter?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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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.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Minister is familiar and has met the National Campaign for the Arts. I had the pleasure of hosting the group in Leinster House to make a presentation on its pre-budget submission. As an umbrella organisation which represents the arts across the country, it is concerned about how the roadmap has been set out by the Government and the stated objective of doubling the investment. Doubling the investment is a commitment and a real promise which artists took with all sincerity. However, the National Campaign for the Arts is concerned that there might be a dilution of the commitment by combining capital and current expenditure. While the announcement on capital investment through Project Ireland 2040 is welcome, there is no point in having stages without actors, galleries without art or exhibition spaces without exhibits. Will the Minister make a firm commitment to double expenditure on arts through current expenditure in the next seven years?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am doing all I can to achieve the best possible result with the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform. Funding is allocated on a yearly basis. Current expenditure in 2017 was €237 million, which went up to €249 million in 2018, an increase of 5%. Capital expenditure in 2017 was €51 million, which went up to €54 million in 2018, an increase of 5.8%.

It is important to recognise the work of the Arts Council. Work is also done by the cultural institutions, including by the National Library of Ireland and other project developments under the national development plan. We also want to support the endeavours of Creative Ireland in enabling the creative potential of each child, in enabling cultural creativity in every community, in investing in cultural infrastructure, as well as in having Ireland as a centre of excellence for media production and unifying its global reputation in that regard. We have seen a steady increase during the years and I will do everything I can to assist.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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That is comforting. The doubling of current expenditure is where it is at for artists and the National Campaign for the Arts. The Minister alluded to the Arts Council which we know plays a pivotal role in delivering funding to artists. There is a good working relationship between artists and the Arts Council. That autonomy and the arm's length principle the Arts Council has established and maintains with artists across the country are important. For that reason, the National Campaign for the Arts has asked that in the upcoming budget increased funding of €13.2 million be made available to the Arts Council to bring back to its spend in 2008, €82 million. It is important that we remain focused on the council. There is a good working relationship and good faith between it and artists. It is important that it be maintained and that the Government has faith to ensure the Arts Council will receive the money it needs to do its job.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for outlining the good work done by the Arts Council. The moneys my Department has given to it have increased significantly in the past few years and I will be endeavouring to obtain as much as I can this year. It is important to stress, however, that the spend in 2008 was probably unsustainable. While I am endeavouring to ensure I will get as much funding as I can, it is important that we remember the context. The national development plan is limited to capital investment and does not consider current funding for artists and arts organisations which is distributed by the Arts Council.

That said, there are vital links between the Arts Council's work and the delivery of my Department's culture and creativity investment programme under the plan. It is important that we support the artists on the ground. They are the people who need our assistance most. That is something very close to my heart in my role as Minister, but there is an arm's length principle in that regard. I have to try to secure as much as I can for my Department to implement our commitment to double funding over the next seven years, and within that will be an allocation to the Arts Council. I will do all I can to endeavour to do that.