Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he is concerned at the level of take up by Irish arts and cultural organisations of European cultural programmes and initiatives; and if he plans to reorganise and reassign responsibility for this matter from the Arts Council. [13004/12]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Question 130: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a fee is paid to the Arts Council for hosting the European cultural contact point; if so, by whom; the amount paid; and if it is advertised by competitive tender. [13137/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I propose to answer Parliamentary Questions Nos. 127 and 130 together.

The Culture Programme is the EU support programme for organisations working in the field of culture. There are Cultural Contact Points in each of the participating countries of the EU Culture Programme. Their role is to provide information, advice and technical assistance to anyone in the country interested in applying to the EU for funding under the Culture Programme 2007–2013. The CCP Ireland is based at the Arts Council. The EU makes a contribution of up to €35,000 towards the operation of the CCP. In addition to this, the Arts Council contributes €47,000 which including administrative costs.

Since 2007, Irish cultural organisations have been involved in projects that have received grants in excess of €14.8m from the Culture Programme. The Irish take of these grants is estimated to be in the region of €3m. Recent statistics show that Ireland's participation is improving and organisations are now more likely to look to Europe for funding. Overall, the picture is optimistic for Irish application levels to gain a critical mass in the near future judging by the increased level of interest in the past three years. I have no plans to reassign this responsibility from the Arts Council.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position regarding sculptures (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13030/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I have asked my Department to enquire into this matter.