Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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154. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the arts sector attracts support from philanthropists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14005/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Private support for the arts is an important funding source and the Government continues to support this through tax incentives and other initiatives. The Programme for a Partnership Government contains a commitment to encourage strong, mutually beneficial links between the business community and the arts community to assist arts organisations to capitalise on sponsorship opportunities and to develop business partnerships and fundraising skills. In this regard, I recognise the important work carried out by Business to Arts for which my Department provides a small amount of assistance.

In addition, the Arts Council operates the RAISE programme, which seeks to enhance fund-raising skills in arts organisations with a view to diversifying the sector's sources of funding. It is designed to assist the sector in securing philanthropic contributions to the arts in Ireland.

My Department also operates small capital grant schemes, which requires co-funding from private or philanthropic sources.

In terms of other capital investment requiring co-funding, I have announced a new €9 million investment scheme for arts and cultural centres to run over the next three years, focussed on upgrading the existing stock of such centres around the country. The funding, which is being made available as part of the Capital Investment Framework 2016-2021, will be dependent on matching funding being secured by project promoters and will therefore provide an opportunity for philanthropists to involve themselves in the arts.