Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his plans to ensure continued funding for the heritage officer programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42030/12]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his plans to extend the walled towns capital conservation project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42026/12]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his plans to promote best practice in the care of collections and to improve visitor experience in museums; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42025/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 18, 29 and 31 together.

This year my Department is providing a total of €4,811,000 of Exchequer funding to the Heritage Council, together with €1,500,000 from my Department’s share of the Environment Fund, to support the work of the Council in its role of improving heritage infrastructure, awareness raising, and promoting best practice in conservation and sustainable heritage management.

The Deputy will appreciate that it is a matter for the Heritage Council to allocate funds to the various schemes which it supports. However, I understand that in 2012 the Heritage Council allocated €550,000 to the Heritage Officer Programme, €339,000 in capital grants under the Irish Walled Towns Network and €150,000 to the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland.

The Heritage Council has operated the Heritage Officer Programme since 1999, developing a partnership programme with local authorities to facilitate the employment of Heritage Officers.

The Irish Walled Towns Network was established by the Heritage Council in 2005 and currently comprises 24 walled towns throughout Ireland. The role of the Irish Walled Towns Network is to co-ordinate and support the strategic efforts of local authorities and their communities in the management, conservation and enhancement of historic walled towns in Ireland. The Network is now operating on its second Action Plan, covering the period 2011-13.

The Museum Standards Programme for Ireland, established in 2006, is an initiative which sets out to improve all aspects of Ireland’s museum practice and, in particular, to raise the standards of care for collections across Irish museums and galleries. It is a voluntary programme, which has attracted involvement from across the cultural spectrum from national institutions to small, volunteer-led organisations. The Programmeaims to benchmark and raise professional minimum standards in the museum sector.

Without prejudice to the outcome of the current review of the Heritage Council, it will be a matter for the Council to decide if further funding should be allocated to these schemes in future years, having regard to competing priorities for limited resources.

My Department also operates a small annual scheme to support special initiatives at regional museums. I hope to be in a position to continue that scheme in 2013, subject to resources.