Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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13. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of times she has met her Northern counterpart this year; the total funding her Department has directed to the North-South bodies in 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31216/14]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department funds two of the six North South Implementation Bodies established under the 1999 British-Irish Agreement. These are Waterways Ireland and An Foras Teanga, which comprises two agencies, Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency. These Bodies operate under the policy direction of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) and are supported by funding from their two sponsor Departments - my own Department and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) in Northern Ireland. As the Deputy will appreciate, I have not yet had the opportunity to hold a formal ministerial meeting with my northern counterpart, the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Carál Ní Chuilín, MLA. However, I look forward to meeting her at the earliest opportunity. In 2014 to date, there have been two NSMC sectoral meetings held in Northern Ireland, one in Waterways sectoral format and one in Language Body sectoral format.

The current expenditure of Waterways Ireland is funded 85% by my Department and 15% by DCAL, which reflects the distribution of the navigable waterways in each jurisdiction. Capital expenditure is funded 100% in the jurisdiction in which the project arises.

An Foras Teanga is funded on the basis of 75% from my Department and 25% from DCAL, with certain additional ringfenced funding from my Department in relation to Clár na Leabhar Gaeilge and the Colmcille Partnership Programme. The Ulster-Scots Agency is funded on the basis of 75% from DCAL and 25% from my Department.

These Implementation Bodies carry out a range of activities in line with their statutory remits which are of great significance to the sectors they serve. I look forward to working with them and with my Northern counterpart in the coming period.

The amount of funding allocated to these Bodies from my Department’s Vote for each of the years from 2011 to 2014 is set out in a Table, which will be circulated in the Official Report.

TABLE: Funding allocated to Waterways Ireland and An Foras Teanga 2011-2014