Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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858. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the criteria in place, the assessment process, the approval process and the appeals mechanism in place in respect of funding allocated and to be allocated by her Department and organisations under the aegis of her Department, including the Arts Council, in respect of applications for funding for projects to commemorate the centenary of 1916; the guidelines as to the division of these funds between public bodies and non-public bodies that are undertaking projects; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29609/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A capital provision of €22 million was allocated for 2015 to support a number of specific flagship commemorations projects being advanced under the aegis of my own Department, the Department of Defence and the OPW. These include the GPO Interpretative Centre, the Tenement Museum in Henrietta Street, refurbishment works at Richmond Barracks, Dublin, a new visitor centre at Teach an Phiarsaigh, Ros Muc, the new Military Pensions Archives building at Cathal Brugha Barracks, the refurbishment of the Kevin Barry Rooms in the National Concert Hall, and the development of Kilmainham Courthouse as a visitor centre for the Gaol. In addition, I secured a dedicated allocation of €4 million in current funding for my Department to support the development in 2015 of the Government’s Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme. In line with that Programme, funding is being broadly allocated to bodies and programme strands as follows: Community Participation Strand: Some €1m has been divided equally between the local authorities to drive programme development at local level. The local authorities have consulted widely at community level and many have already invited applications and submissions for this funding. The assessment process and appeals mechanisms are a matter for the local authorities in this instance. Cultural Expression Strand: Some €1m has been allocated to the development of a cultural commemorations programme through the National Cultural Institutions and other similar national cultural bodies, following an assessment by my Department of proposals received from the bodies in question. This allocation will fund a programme of exhibitions for 2016, digitisation of key records and artefacts, lecture series, website development and publications. Youth and Imagination: Some €250,000 has been allocated towards the development of a creative and innovative programme for the education sector in conjunction with Department of Education and Skills. This allocation will fund the development of a range of educational initiatives, to include a significant North-South element, to be rolled out to schools across the country in the autumn. An Teanga Bheo: Some €250,000 has been allocated in 2015 towards the development of a dedicated Irish language commemorations programme strand. The key elements of this programme strand were adopted following a consultation process with a wide range of language bodies, both statutory and non-statutory. Funding allocations will be made in the coming weeks, following an assessment of applications carried out by my Department. The standard Departmental appeals process will apply.

The balance of the current budget has been allocated to the operations of my Department’s 2016 Commemoration Project Office, including a range of communications and engagement initiatives being advanced by it.

With regard to the Arts Council, I secured €2 million in additional funding for the Council's commemorative programme in preparation for 2016. The Council is an independent statutory body and my Department has no role in its funding decisions. Details of the Council’s decision-making process and the appeals mechanism available can be found on its website at .

Apart from the major capital and current projects/programme strands that form an integral part of the Government’s Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, my Department has also received requests for funding from a range of organisations and individuals to support a variety of 2016 commemorative projects and proposals. Over 270 such proposals have been received to date and I very much welcome and appreciate the ideas submitted. However, the amount of funding available to my Department to support such proposals is very limited indeed and what limited supports that are being made available are focused on projects that resonate particularly with the Government’s Programme - for example by being related directly to one of the signatories of the Proclamation. My Department’s 2016 Commemoration Project Office continues to work its way through the correspondence received and to alert relevant local authorities, Departments and agencies to proposals that would appear to fall within their particular areas of responsibility.