Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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53. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which full time and part time jobs have been created through the medium of the arts in the course of each of the past two years to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38440/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I refer the Deputy to my previous responses in relation to this matter.

Government policy on the arts is set out in the Programme for Government. The Government's policy on the arts is to promote and strengthen the arts in all its forms, to increase access to and participation in the arts, and to make the arts an integral and valued part of our national life.

The Government appreciates the importance of the arts, culture and the creative industries to both our society and to our economy. The arts sector continue to offer vital opportunities for the provision of important cultural, social and employment benefits to communities throughout the country.

As the Deputy will be aware, primary responsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels, throughout the country is devolved to the Arts Council. The Council is funded by my Department and is statutorily independent in its day-to-day operations, including funding decisions. In 2013, the Arts Council will receive an allocation of over €60.6 million in current, capital and EU Presidency funding. Details of all funding provided by the Arts Council to arts practitioners, arts groups and venues, including arts centres, are available on the Council's website at . In a wider context, the Arts Council support of a range of arts forms is set out in its strategic overview document entitled Developing the Arts in Ireland: Arts Council Strategic Overview 2011-2013 . In this strategy document, which is available on the Council's website, its work and key strategic principles that inform its funding decisions are laid out.

The nature of employment within the arts sector encompasses a very wide range of activities. It can include those engaged in the arts practice within specific artistic genres and can also encompass areas which flow from such artistic pursuits. It may also embody the whole industrial creative sectors, including the audiovisual production sector.

The Government appreciates and values the contribution the arts sector makes to the internationally renowned artistic reputation of this country. Within the current economic constraints, investment in the arts, culture and creative sectors is more important than ever, having regard to the employment intensity of the sector. In October 2012, the Arts Council published its latest update of the Assessment of the Economic Impact of the Arts in Ireland and it is available on the Council's website.

As the Deputy will be aware, in the Government's Action Plan for Jobs, there are 11 specific actions in the areas of arts, culture and creative enterprise which are to be undertaken by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the agencies under its remit. The relevant actions are set out in section 7 of the Plan and I look forward to continuing progress in relation to these actions in the period ahead.