Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to the House again, having already briefly spoken. The motion on culture and the arts in Irish society put forward by my colleague Senator O'Keeffe is important. I pay tribute to Senator O'Keeffe for her immense hard work and perseverance in getting Yeats2015 off the ground. Those of us who know Senator O'Keeffe will be aware that it is no exaggeration to say that she lives, breathes and sleeps Yeats2015. It is a tremendous testament to her doggedness, if I may use that term, to see it getting off the ground. I commend the Government on supporting and building Yeats2015. I thank the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, for her support for the initiative. I attended the launch last week at the Dublin United Arts Club. There is a considerable level of participation in this initiative by Departments, agencies and so on, as well as cultural and academic institutions and many individuals. As Senator O'Keeffe said, they are keen to mark 150 years since the birth of the former Senator William Butler Yeats. Those of us in the House remember him especially for that reason. Yeats2015 will be a year-long festival involving many constituent elements throughout Ireland and internationally. I commend Senator O'Keeffe on her great work on the festival.

Of course, the motion is about more than Yeats2015. It is also about recognising the critical role of culture and the arts in Irish society. I am pleased there is no amendment. We can all gather and agree our support for the motion, because it is very much about a collegiate approach to the arts.

As Senator has said, we have a vivid cultural and artistic wealth. I will comment a little more on culture and heritage because I know Senator O'Keeffe did not have time to do so. I will also comment on the arts and arts funding. I am pleased that we will have funding for the commemoration programme. This will be put in place in the coming year and as we go into 2016. Our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, will have a large role to play in that regard.

Senator O'Keeffe referred the initiative of arts in education and the Arts in Education Charter. These are of major importance and I believe we will see a major return in terms of educating children in the arts. In particular, we will benefit from the commitment of the national cultural institutions to the effect that students will visit those institutions at least once in their second level career. Furthermore, the Arts Council will introduce the national Arts-Rich Schools scheme and so on. These are all important initiatives at a time when we are seeing serious cuts in funding for the arts. Of course, that is an ongoing problem. The Arts Council grant-in-aid was reduced to €56.9 million in 2014 despite the fact that an Indecon report from 2011 showed the considerable economic benefits provided by the arts sector, quite apart from the considerable cultural richness and social and community benefits that the arts and heritage provide.

I wish raise the matter of funding for the Heritage Council, which was reduced by 72% between 2008 and 2014. Perhaps the Heritage Council is sometimes overlooked when we are debating arts, culture and heritage. However, as the Minister is well aware, the Heritage Council carries out important work, particularly in small and rural communities throughout Ireland. I know from colleagues who work in this area that the cuts have impacted on their professions, which include conservators, thatchers, ecologists, archaeologists, museum curators and other specialist professions in the area. Yet the Heritage Council carries out important work, including high-quality advice to the Minister and as well as the development of many aspects of our heritage infrastructure, such as the Irish Landmark Trust, the county heritage officer network, Woodlands of Ireland and so on. A great deal of work is undertaken by the Heritage Council, yet it has a rather modest budget and, I understand, only 14 staff. I understand that in the short term a grant of €750,000 for 2015 would support 150 community groups in the undertaking of heritage projects which would help to build community engagement, positive action and social capital at local level. I wish to highlight the work of the heritage sector, which is sometimes seen as the poor relation of the arts.

The problems we see with resourcing are not confined to the Heritage Council. In recent weeks the National Museum of Ireland has been in the news because of a shortage of money and suggested closures. I have been working with the Minister and her office to try to ensure the full opening of the galleries in the Natural History Museum. It is a very important institution, particularly for schoolchildren. They are fond of what we all know as the dead zoo. We need to ensure that funding is kept at an adequate level for all of our museums and galleries.

I have not had time to discuss the visual arts, but we are all mindful of the important work done by the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Hugh Lane Gallery and the other visual art galleries. I thank the Minister for her support for Yeats2015 and I remind her to remember the Heritage Council.