Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will take this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.I thank Senator Hoey for the opportunity to discuss this matter. The Arts Council is the statutory body charged with supporting developing arts in Ireland. When it comes to funding the arts in any democratic state, the arms length principle is a fundamental tenet in Government funding of arts. The arms length principle recognises that it would not be appropriate for Ministers and politicians to be in a position to decide which artistic endeavours should be funded and which should not. For this reason, the legislation under which the Arts Council is constituted, the Arts Act 2003, includes a provision, at section 24(2), that ensures the council is independent in its funding decisions. The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, therefore, is statutorily precluded from intervening in how and to whom the Arts Council commits its funding.

I recognise and understand the sentiments behind requests to a Minister to intervene with the Arts Council on behalf of organisations that have been refused funding by the council, but I would defend the law in this case by saying that artistic freedom would suffer if Ministers could direct the council on who it should fund. The maintenance of this approach between the Arts Council and the role of the Minister also ensures that all funding decisions are above reproach. I understand that the Arts Council provides detailed feedback on unsuccessful applications and has an appeals process in place. I recommend that the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival adopt this approach.

Across its various funding schemes, the Arts Council supports more than 160 festivals annually. Through its festival investment scheme, the council makes significant investment in festivals nationwide. The addition of festivals supported under the arts grant and strategic funding schemes ensures that there is a flexible and comprehensive support for festivals in Ireland. The council recognises the distinctive role arts festivals play in sustaining a vibrant and sustainable arts profile at local level. Festivals provide opportunities for artists and audiences to experience new work and ways of making work.

There is no funding or revenue stream in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media that provides funding to organisations which have been refused funding by the Arts Council and there are no plans to introduce one. However, the Department does operate a small-scale local festivals and summer schools funding scheme. The scheme is designed to support local cultural festivals and summer schools which are not in receipt of other essential Government moneys and which may not be eligible under funding criteria for larger scale events supported by Fáilte Ireland, the Arts Council or similar bodies. This scheme is currently open for applications on the Department's website. In addition, Senator Hoey may be interested to note that a number of local authorities support small-scale festivals, in some cases, under the all-of-Government Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022, led by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.