Written answers

Wednesday, 13 February 2008

Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism

Departmental Bodies

9:00 pm

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 260: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the date of establishment of Council of National Cultural Institutions; if this council is still in existence; the purpose and role of this council; the number of members of the board of this council; the number of whom are appointed by himself; the persons by whom the remaining board members are appointed; the expenditure of this council for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5606/08]

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Council of National Cultural Institutions (CNCI) was established on a non-statutory basis by the then Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands in July 1998. It was placed on a statutory footing under the Heritage Fund Act, 2001 and continues to fulfil both its statutory and non-statutory roles. The CNCI, in its non-statutory role, is a forum for the Directors and Chief Executives of the National Cultural Institutions to share ideas and experiences and to report to the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism on arts, culture and heritage matters and in relation to professional, operational, institutional and other related issues. It addresses areas of co-operation between individual Institutions and also explores the opportunities for North/South and international dialogues.

The Heritage Fund Act, 2001 sets out the statutory functions of the CNCI. These are to make recommendations to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism regarding (a) acceptance of gifts of money, land, and property for the benefit of the Heritage Fund and (b) payments from the Heritage Fund. As I indicated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 31505/07 a review of the governance and operation of the Heritage Fund has been carried out by my Department and the findings of the review are being considered at present. The statutory role of the CNCI will be considered in the light of that review. Section 9 of the Heritage Fund Act, 2001, stipulates the membership of the Council in respect of its statutory functions. There are ten members: the Directors or Chief Executives of the National Archives of Ireland; the National Library of Ireland; the National Museum of Ireland; the National Gallery of Ireland; the Irish Museum of Modern Art; the National Concert Hall; the Arts Council; the Heritage Council; the Abbey Theatre and the Chester Beatty Library.

The Director of the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork is a member of the CNCI in respect of its non-statutory functions. As the Crawford Gallery Cork was designated a National Cultural Institution after the enactment of the Heritage Fund Act 2001, its Director is not included in the CNCI membership laid down in that Act. The expenditure of the CNCI over the past five years is as follows:

20032004200520062007
â'¬92,849.56â'¬104,943.39â'¬90,977.85â'¬76,770.13â'¬143,891.82

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 261: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the date of establishment of the tourism action plan implementation group; if this group is still in existence; the purpose and role of this group; the number of members of the board of this group; the number of whom are appointed by himself; the persons by whom the remaining board members are appointed; the expenditure of this group for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5607/08]

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Tourism Action Plan Implementation Group was established by my predecessor in January 2004 and its work concluded in January 2006 on completion of its third and final progress report. The purpose of the group was to review and report progress on the implementation of the Report of the Tourism Policy Review Group "New Horizons for Irish Tourism: An Agenda for Action". My predecessor appointed all of the seven members of the group. During its term of office the group published three implementation reports which are available on the publications page of my Department's website (www.dast.gov.ie/publications/ list_publications.html). Costs associated with the group — which were limited — were paid out of the Department's normal administration budget.

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