Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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175. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will consider a proposal to allow the Arts Council to register and recognise craft workers along the lines of people working in the Arts Council; if she will outline the role of the county arts officers in promoting craft workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19416/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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The Arts Council is a statutory body under the Arts Act 2003. Its functions are laid down by section 9(1) of that Act and are specific to the arts.

The Crafts Council of Ireland (CCoI) is the organisation with responsibility for the craft industry in Ireland and its activities are funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Further details in relation to the Crafts Council are available on its website- .

While recognising the separate, though complementary, roles of the two organisations, I can assure the Deputy that there is a significant level of co-operation between them. This was particularly evident to me in their recent work together on Ireland's Cultural Programme for our Presidency of the EU.