Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his views of the propensity for Arts groups to attract voluntary financial support throughout the community sector; if he will ensure that adequate core funding remains in place to facilitate this process and as a consequence contribute towards economic recovery and job creation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54723/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Government policy on the arts is set out in the Programme for Government . As Minister responsible for the arts and culture sectors, I am committed to securing the best possible funding provision for them during my term of office.

Government policy is to promote and strengthen the arts in all its forms, increase access to and participation in the arts, to make the arts an integral and valued part of our national life, and maximise the potential for cultural tourism. Primary responsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels throughout the country is devolved to the Arts Council, which, under the Arts Acts, is independent in its funding decisions. In 2012, the Arts Council received an allocation of over €63 million – a curbing of the budgetary decline of previous years.

The Government appreciates the importance of the arts, culture and the creative industries to both our society and to our economy. I am fully aware of the challenges for those involved in the arts and culture sectors and of the tremendous work they are doing. I am committed to supporting the essential elements of the arts and culture sectors, within the available financial resources and in the light of the evolving budgetary and Estimates processes. The Programme for Government includes a commitment to "work with stakeholders in the Arts community to develop new proposals aimed at building private support of the Arts in Ireland exploring philanthropic, sponsorship or endowment fund opportunities".

The Deputy may be aware that, in May, I announced the introduction of a new philanthropic initiative on a pilot basis for arts and culture organisations. The initiative - the Philanthropic Leverage Initiative - was designed to encourage philanthropic sponsorship and endowment of the arts from private sources. The initiative, established with funding of €230,000 for 2012, has provided an incentive to arts organisations to proactively seek new funding relationships with sponsors which deliver private sector financial support, thereby increasing overall funding available to the arts. The initiative was available across projects of varying scale, geography and art forms to not-for-profit organisations for arts programming projects. The organisations approved for funding under the initiative were required to procure matching philanthropic funds and complete their drawdown from my Department in 2012. Matched funding cannot come from public funds or from any public sector organisation. It is anticipated that a multiple of 3.5 on the pilot initiative funds of €230,000 will result in philanthropic funding of some €800,000 being raised for the arts.

The Leverage Initiative will run in parallel with a second initiative - the Arts Council's RAISE: Building Fundraising Capacity pilot initiative. This will provide one-to-one professional support to eight selected organisations for two years through planning and implementing a tailored fundraising programme. This initiative will help those art organisations build and resource their capacity to attract philanthropic giving. In developing this complementary programme, the Arts Council has identified that it is vital for art groups to develop, agree and implement an effective fundraising strategy and to properly resource that fundraising function.