Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on Fianna Fáil's Private Members' motion. Yesterday evening I addressed the House on the issue of the board appointments I have made since I became Minister. I do not want to go over the same ground this evening. I appointed John McNulty and Sheila O'Reagan based on merit and I stand over my statement of yesterday evening. Tonight I was invited before the House to discuss arts and cultural policy, and I am pleased to do so. It is important that we move forward. New plans announced by the Government last week will ensure that all State boards appointments are made through the public appointments process. I have already instructed the management team in my Department to immediately set about implementing the new system for board appointments. It is a system to which I intend to strictly adhere. I regret the controversy surrounding my first two board appointments. I have learned valuable lessons from that experience. I see this motion as a valuable opportunity to set out my priorities as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The arts, culture and creative sectors have made a huge contribution to our society since the formation of the State. Access to the arts, culture, and Ireland's rich heritage is vital to preserving our national identity and promoting Ireland's image abroad. Promoting and valuing cultural and creative resources are crucial parts of positioning Ireland for the future and, while the arts, creative industries and cultural tourism make a major contribution to our economy, the arts is about much more than that. I feel passionately about the individual importance of the arts and how self-expression through the arts can create a dialogue which allows us to understand the world in a different way.

Learning from the past and looking towards the future, the arts, whether we know it, touch every aspect of our lives and, if allowed, can make a hugely positive impact on us as individuals and a society. The national cultural institutions - museums, libraries, galleries, archives, theatres and concert halls - are stakeholders in this process, as are the Arts Council, artists and the public. On foot of their collections, staffs and contributions to knowledge, these institutions are essential building blocks of the cultural identity and creativity of Ireland. My Department's statement of strategy on culture and the arts is to promote and develop Ireland's world-class artistic and creative strengths at home and abroad, maximising their societal and reputational value to the country. Developing a cultural policy is essential to implement these aims.

Last June an agreement was reached to draft a national cultural policy, Culture 2025, which will set out the high level aims and policies in the area of culture for the period up to 2025. This is the first time in the history of the State that any Government has undertaken such an endeavour. Culture 2025 will focus on a range of issues, including what culture means to us in the 21st century; what can be done to embed culture at the heart of decision making and discourse in the public and private sectors; policies for growth and expansion; international representation and collaboration; and the delivery of cultural services in the digital age. I reassure the House that I am fully committed to the delivery of the country's first ever national cultural policy and of the opinion that culture should be at the centre of Government policy. My Department is finalising a draft discussion paper. I will be initiating a wide-ranging consultation process to ensure all stakeholders and members of the public can make their views known. I attended a Culture Summit in Edinburgh last August, when an eminent speaker said, "It's not the economy stupid, it's the culture genius."

I take the opportunity to mention the arts in education charter, to which Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell referred and which is extremely important and an initiative I am very eager to progress. Making the arts more accessible will be a cornerstone of my ministry. Immersing school students in the arts through a targeted strategy will benefit future generations and give young people a greater understanding and appreciation of the arts as they progress to adulthood. I have met my colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, on a number of occasions to discuss this initiative in detail. We are both very keen to progress implementation of the charter without delay. The arts are for everyone and I am very aware of the great work done by arts officers in local authorities throughout the country. I want to work closely with them in bringing the arts to communities.

In response to Senator Mark Daly, on the first opportunity which arose after I became Minister I was delighted to attend an excellent and worthwhile event in Ballina to commemorate the women of Cumann na mBan. The 1916 commemorations are one of my major priorities. I have consistently stated I want the commemorations to be inclusive, respectful and appropriate. I have had the honour of attending a number of First World War commemorative events since my appointment and only last week I visited Richmond Barracks, which is receiving €3.5 million in funding from the Department under the €22 million capital projects plan announced earlier this year. The plan also includes a major project at the GPO where an interpretive centre will be opened in time for Easter 2016, a new visitor centre at Kilmainham Gaol, the refurbishment of the military archives at Cathal Brugha Barracks and several other projects. I received an update from my Department today on the draft plan for the commemorative programme for 2016. My intention is to bring the plan before the all-party group on commemorations before putting it out for public consultation. My Department is also liaising with the Department of the Taoiseach on the draft programme which I want to be in a position to publish in the weeks following the budget. I feel very strongly that the arts must play a central role in the commemorations. They have a way of reaching out and speaking to people, giving them a sense of pride and making them feel both connected to the past and enthused about the future. I also want to bring local communities on board for the commemorations. It is important that people have a sense of ownership of the commemorations and getting local communities involved is the best way to do this.

The Irish film and television industry is going through a positive period of growth and international acclaim. Not only are some of the biggest television series in the world being made here, it was a real pleasure for me to visit the set of one of the biggest film franchises in the world when the crew from "Star Wars Episode VII" came to Skellig Michael for a few days in the summer. It was fantastic to be able to witness, at first hand, the buzz a major production brought and, of course, the positive spin-off for the local community in terms of job creation and economic activity. The welcome and co-operation the film crew received from the community in Portmagee are what Ireland is all about and what make us special. I want Ireland to become a first choice destination for film makers. The audio visual sector has a turnover of approximately €500 million per year and supports 6,000 jobs. The increase in the number of independent television productions is driving this growth and I remain very committed to supporting the industry through direct funding supports and financial incentives such as the enhanced section 481.

Every Senator is aware of the dramatic and near catastrophic reductions in public spending as a result of the financial collapse which will forever be the legacy of the previous Fianna Fáil Government. Like every State body, the national cultural institutions have been obliged to endure significant reductions in financial allocations in the past few years. Notwithstanding financial and staffing restraints, all of the institutions, together with regional museums, galleries and cultural centres, have worked tirelessly to minimise the impact of the cuts in funding and maintain visitor numbers and the visitor experience to the greatest extent possible. Many, if not all, of the institutions have carried out critical staffing and operational reviews in order to better inform how they might achieve optimal performance within current financial and staffing constraints. It is testament to this collective effort and strong resolve to succeed that in 2013 there were over 3.6 million visitors to the cultural institutions directly supported by my Department, an increase of some 4% on the previous year's figures.

Despite the cutbacks imposed in recent years, I am pleased to say there are a number of major capital projects under way at the cultural institutions. The major work being undertaken at the National Gallery of Ireland provides for an overall refurbishment of the historic Dargan and Milltown wings at a cost of some €32 million. This project has created almost 300 construction jobs and I recently had an opportunity to view some of the work. This two year project is scheduled to be completed by 2016 and will bring the National Gallery of Ireland back up to international standards and allow it to again present world-class exhibits in a world-class setting. It is important to remember that only three years ago the gallery was facing the prospect of having to close these wings. A major €4 million refurbishment was recently completed at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham premises of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, IMMA. This project has brought the premises up to international standards and when I visited in August, I was very impressed by the refurbished galleries.

Funding has been allocated for building development works at the National Archives headquarterson Bishop Street, which will address the longstanding problems associated with the storage conditions in the National Archives. It is anticipated that construction will begin in early 2015. I visited the premises and was amazed to see the tremendous collection we have and the excellent relationship that the National Archives enjoy with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Similarly funding has been approved for a significant renovation project at the National Concert Hall as part of the decade of centenaries celebrations. This project involves the renovation of the Kevin Barry room. Again this work is long overdue and will serve to improve substantially the facilities at this much loved venue. My Department and I have been engaged in intensive budget negotiations for the last number of weeks, and while I cannot of course go into detail at this point, it is certainly my intention to protect our cultural institutions and the arts from any further budgetary cuts, as far as possible.
I would like now to address the issue of the reform process being undertaken at the national cultural institutions. I would immediately like to dispel the notion that there is any intention to undermine the independence of our national cultural institutions. In fact the opposite is the case.