Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Byrne, go dtí an Teach.

Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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Creative Europe is the EU programme supporting the culture and creative sectors. It is the Commission's primary support for the culture and audiovisual sectors, with a budget of €2.4 billion, approximately double the budget of the previous programme. It invests in actions that reinforce cultural diversity and respond to the needs and challenges of the culture and creative sectors. A brief look at Creative Europe funding from 2019 to 2021, inclusive, shows there were more than 3,000 awards for projects throughout the European Union. Importantly, Ireland is performing well in all those projects, featuring in more than 113 awards, with an Irish project being co-ordinator in 56 of those awards and a partner organisation in 57. Of all Creative Europe awards, 3.6% feature Irish organisations. As our population makes up approximately 1% of the EU total population, it follows that we are performing well.

That said, for many years I have been of the view that there is significant potential for us to be drawing down more money from Creative Europe if we look at ways to support organisations that wish to factor EU funding into their medium- and long-term plans. I know of an arts organisation that had a full-time staff member working on a Creative Europe application. Fair play to it. European funding helps to grow and internationalise our creative and cultural organisations. The likes of "Wolfwalkers" received Slate funding. European distributors help Irish films, including "The Breadwinner", to be seen right across Europe. The Galway Film Fleadh and the Cork International Film Festival have also received support. All present are familiar with Europa Cinemas, the film theatre network, which has received support from Creative Europe, including for the Pálás Cinema in Galway, the Irish Film Institute and the Lighthouse Cinema among many examples throughout the country. On the culture strand, one of the many examples was the Murals for Communities project, which is about mural art as a tool for community engagement and involves murals being co-created by local people and mural artists. That was a project run by Waterford City and County Council and the Waterford Walls project. Their co-partners were in Lithuania and the Netherlands. As an aside, I look forward to the Oireachtas joint committee examining the issue of public art, murals and restrictive planning laws at our upcoming meetings on local arts.

One of the principal obstacles facing Ireland's arts and cultural organisations is the research and development costs relating to Creative Europe funding, including the costs of the networking and travelling that are essential to the development of these projects. For many years, I and others have called for a research and development fund to support cultural organisations and give them a leg-up when applying for EU funding. The Arts Council has a co-funding award for organisations that have secured funding under Creative Europe but that only applies to artistic organisations rather than to the wider creative and cultural sector. We should aim to ensure that greater amounts of Creative Europe funding are channelled towards Ireland. There is significant potential in that regard. Such a fund would allow Irish-based companies, organisations and charities to devise and effectively prepare large-scale projects with European partners and increase our ability to access EU funding.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Warfield for raising the matter of the Creative Europe programme and for highlighting this important EU funding stream which is available to the Irish creative and cultural sectors. The Minister, Deputy Martin gives her apologies. She was not available to come at short notice. Creative Europe is the European Union's funding programme to support the culture and audiovisual sectors. The second Creative Europe programme for the period 2021 to 2027 was launched in May 2021 with a budget of € 2.44 billion. This is a welcome 50% increase on the previous programme budget. From this, €10.7 million has been awarded to Irish organisations in 2021 and 2022.

Creative Europe Desk Ireland is the designated national contact point for the Creative Europe programme. The desk is a key interface between our cultural and creative sectors and the EU Commission. It works to inform the sector on funding opportunities and support it to navigate the application process for schemes under the programme. The national co-ordinator for the desk is Screen Ireland, which is delegated by the Department. The remit of the desk is to promote the Creative Europe programme at local, regional and national level, and to facilitate Irish participation in the programme by providing expert advice and help to the Irish cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors. This includes advice on accessing Creative Europe funding, thereby ensuring the submission of high-quality funding applications. The Minister's Department works with the desk to help promote the programme, raising awareness of the funding supports available to the cultural and creative sectors. The Department also represents Ireland on the Creative Europe programme committee comprised of representatives of the member states who review the proposed annual work programme and raise any issues with implementation at EU level.

The Creative Europe programme comprises three strands: media, culture and cross-sectoral. The media strand supports the European film and audiovisual industries to develop, distribute and promote European works. It also funds markets, networking and training opportunities. To date in the programme, more than €5 million has been awarded to Irish companies across the film, documentary, animation, TV and video games sectors through the media funding strand in 2021 and 2022.

The culture strand supports a wide range of cultural and creative sectors and encourages co-operation and exchange among cultural organisations and artists at European level. Through the culture funding strand to date, €5.16 million has been awarded in 2021 and 2022 to Irish organisations involved in projects and activities. Successful projects featuring Irish partners cover a range of art forms, including visual arts, music, theatre, opera, literature, design and craft, and architecture.

In regard to the cross-cultural strand, more than half a million euro has been invested in Irish companies in 2021 and 2022. This funding builds on allocations under the previous Creative Europe programme, which ran from 2014 to 2020. In that period, €13 million was awarded under the media strand to more than 80 Irish companies. Of this, in excess of €1.8 million was awarded to the audiovisual and video games sector in the west, with €500,000 invested in Gaeltacht companies. Beneficiaries include the Cork International Film Festival, the Galway Film Fair, Cartoon Saloon's Oscar-nominated animated features, Element Pictures's Oscar-winner "The Favourite", which received a best actress Oscar for Olivia Coleman, alongside projects from more than 80 Irish companies.

Through the culture strand, 98 Irish organisations were involved in projects and activities, with in excess of €6.3 million in funding coming directly to these organisations. Some notable and interesting Irish projects include CraftHub EU led by Carlow County Council; Cultural Adaptations, a greening project with Axis Ballymun and Codema; and Keychange, which is about gender equality in the music industry, with First Music Contact and sponsored by the Irish Music Rights Organisation, IMRO.

I reiterate that the budget for the second Creative Europe programme for the period 2021 to 2027 includes a welcome 50% increase on the previous programme budget. I encourage engagement with Creative Europe Desk Ireland for those seeking funding under the current programme to make the most of this opportunity. It is heartening to see the increased level of allocations to date compared with the previous programme and it is hoped this will continue.

Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. However, I am disappointed the Minister and the Department will not recognise the potential multiplier effect any Government intervention would have in supporting organisations applying for EU funding. The Minister says it is heartening to see the increased level of allocations to date compared with the previous programme and hopes this will continue. While I am sure it will continue, the great potential that exists is being missed by the Department. I encourage the Minister to engage with The Wheel, which has done important work around matched funding proposals, and with Creative Europe Desk Ireland, as the Oireachtas joint committee recently did. I am disappointed the Government will not realise the potential for an intervention here.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I am not disappointed; I am actually delighted. This is the first time in the Oireachtas I have ever heard positive words about the EU from Sinn Féin. I am really glad to hear that and I mean it. The money the Senator is talking about is from the EU budget. At the time the EU budget was agreed in July 2020, there was significant criticism from Sinn Féin about increased contributions for defence and all these other things they talk about. This is real, practical support.

The Senator asked me to engage with The Wheel. In fact, I worked with The Wheel on the Access Europe programme which is under the Department of Foreign Affairs and which The Wheel organises. Its purpose is to ensure organisations within the community space, some of which are probably in the arts, can access European funding. We work very closely with The Wheel.

I am glad to hear the Senator's positive comments about the European Union. When we talk about the EU budget and hear all these scare stories all the time, particularly at referendum times, there is actually a lot of funding like this and the Senator is right to highlight it. We need Irish organisations to be drawing down and working with the desk----

Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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So support them.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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----to fund these and to get money from the European Union. That is a really strong priority of this Government and we are supporting them to do that. That funding is highly significant.