Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 309: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he is satisfied with the openness, fairness and transparency of a scheme (details supplied) since it was launched in 2004; and his plans to review this scheme. [44676/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The scheme in question, when launched, was accompanied by a set of Guidelines to assist with its implementation. The Guidelines included a commitment to review the scheme and this process is currently underway.

An Inter-Departmental Group, chaired by my Department, was convened in September 2007 to review the working and implementation of the Per Cent for Art Guidelines. To date the group, which is representative of a wide range of Government Departments and agencies with construction budgets, as well as the Arts Council and the Local Authority Arts Officer Association, has met on a quarterly basis and significant progress has been made. The Group will continue to meet until the Guidelines have been revised and approved.

The group is also examining ways in which information on public art could be made more easily accessible to the public and their plans on this are at an advanced stage and include a public art website, which is expected to go live in the New Year. In addition the Arts Council, at the request of my Department, have recently convened a Public Art Advisory Panel who will report to and liaise with the Interdepartmental Group.