Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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204. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding available as bursaries or to support music students studying overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51543/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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My Department does not provide grants to specific performing art practitioners or students as described by the Deputy. Funding decisions including bursaries are a matter for the Arts Council.

Responsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels throughout the country is primarily devolved to the Arts Council. The Arts Council is the principal agency through which State funding is channelled to the arts. Under the Arts Act, 2003, the Arts Council is a statutorily independent body, funded by my Department and independent in its day-to-day operations, and I have no role to play in relation to its funding decisions.