Results 26,781-26,800 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Monuments (2 Dec 2014)

Heather Humphreys: While the structure referred to by the Deputy is included in the Record of Monuments and Places maintained under section 12 of the National Monuments Acts 1930, as amended, there are no proposals to take it into State care. As referred to in my reply to Question No. 192 on 19 November 2014, the structure is under serious threat from coastal erosion. Overall policy for coastal protection,...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Parks Projects (2 Dec 2014)

Heather Humphreys: I understand that in 2006 a strategy document entitled ‘Towards a Liffey Valley Park’was developed under the direction of a steering group, which included the Office of Public Works, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Kildare County Council and South Dublin County Council. The strategy document set out recommendations for the creation of a process towards the...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Appointments to State Boards (2 Dec 2014)

Heather Humphreys: The Government recently agreed on a Revised Model for Ministerial Appointments to State Boards, which complements the existing system with a more structured approach to ensure that vacancies on State Boards are populated in a transparent way by the high-calibre personnel required to successfully perform their mandates. Guidelines in this regard have just been published by the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Proposed Legislation (27 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: As referred to in my previous reply, my Department is currently working on proposals for legislation on this issue. The proposals would involve amendment of the Wildlife Acts, but specific details have yet to be considered by Government. It is expected that the matter will be brought to Government in early 2015.

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Arts Council Funding (27 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: Although the Arts Council is funded by my Department, it is statutorily independent in its day-to-day operations, as provided for in the Arts Act 2003. This specifically includes independence in its decisions on what it funds and the amounts it allocates. Full information on the Council's funding decisions is made available on its website at . As a public body, the Arts Council is required...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Applications (26 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: No application has been received under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme, administered by my Department, from the individual referred to in the Deputy’s Question. The closing date for the receipt of applications generally has passed for raised bog special area of conservation sites. However, my Department will continue to accept late applications under the scheme for...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Meetings (26 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: My Department's Secretary General, three Assistant Secretaries, Director of Irish, Head of Finance and Head of HR comprise the membership of my Department's Management Advisory Committee (MAC). The MAC is chaired by the Secretary General and meets regularly, as required. My Department was formally established on 2 June 2011 and its MAC met 13 times in that year, 25 times in 2012, 23 times...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: It is not as far as Clones. We will start it anyway and we will get it there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: In response to Senator Naughton’s question on the arts in education charter, the aim of the charter is to increase the number of artists in residence, conduct national art school initiatives, work with the cultural institutions educational departments, co-fund arts training for teacher training, build a best practice portal, and support the implementation committee. It has met 27...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: Yes, we are waiting for the pre-legislative scrutiny process to conclude. To respond to Deputy Catherine Murphy, the National Archives storage is being developed in the next five years. This multi-million euro capital project will deliver state-of-the-art archival storage space for public records. On funding for the national cultural institutions, I am conscious of the difficulties the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: The national cultural institutions' plans for 2016 are well advanced. We will collate the information as the plans are completed. We will not have to wait until the end of the process before commencing work. While I accept that the timeframe is short, a dedicated project team has been established for the 2016 commemorations. We will work on the issue in the meantime.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: We are still finalising matters with the Data Protection Commissioner. All of the data from the past 95 years are back up on the website in question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: If I miss a question, I ask members to come back to me. I will start with the artists' exemption. It was good news to have it increased this year from €40,000 to €50,000. I accept fully what Senator Fiach Mac Conghail is saying about its aggregation over a five year term, given the drop in the incomes of artists. I agree with him and we will take up the matter with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: Yes. We will work with the schools. We plan to connect with the schools through the Department of Education and Skills. Regarding the 1913 commemorations, we commemorated the Lock-out, and quite a number of events were organised. There was a huge programme of acts supported by my Department in that respect. On the international context of 1916, we will connect with all the embassies...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: It is capped at €50,000. Regarding the Ulster Canal, which stretches from upper Lough Erne to Castle Saunderson, we hope to get the project started on that section because that is the one part of the inland waterway system that has not been developed. If we get that done, the Ulster Canal will connect into Lough Neagh. That means we will have a complete network of waterways in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: The arts officers will play a crucial role in the 2016 commemorations, particularly, as Deputy Mulherin said, to bring it outside Dublin. It is not all about Dublin - it is about the whole country. The county councils have excellent databases of local historical societies, heritage groups and so on and we will use that medium to connect with all those organisations. Most councils are doing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for his questions. Considerable work was put into the report Utilising the Arts to Combat Disadvantage. It is in my Department now and we will work with the relevant stakeholders in that regard. I agree with the Deputy that local authority arts officers play a major role in making the arts more accessible to everyone. They do a really good job. Last Monday week I met...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: That matter was fully investigated by the Arts Council and was all sorted out by it at the time. I do not want to say anything more about it here. It was sorted out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Future Plans: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (25 Nov 2014)

Heather Humphreys: I understand that board vacancies were advertised on a pro bonobasis. It could not be on a pro bonobasis until the legislation was changed because all members of the Arts Council had to be treated the same. I did not see the advertisement at the time but it was on the basis that the Government's intention was that it would be pro bono. However, we cannot treat board members differently, so...