Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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351. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will increase the current spend of 0.11% of gross domestic product, GDP on culture and arts to the European average of 0.6% of GDP; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18359/16]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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357. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her objectives for arts funding in the coming years; the specific commitments that are in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18365/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 351 and 357 together.

The Programme for a Partnership Government contains a very important commitment to work to progressively increase funding to the arts, including the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board, as the economy continues to improve.

I can assure the Deputy that I will be engaging with my colleagues in Government and with the Oireachtas to seek to advance this commitment in the context of the forthcoming estimates and budgetary processes.

In terms of the particular level of spending referenced, it should be noted that the figures referred to come from a Council of Europe project called Compendium-Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe. I understand that many European counties are not included in the figures, including ten EU Member States. The data for the Compendiumproject are provided by independent researchers and it is not a standardised system for collection of statistics.

I further understand that the Compendiumitself warns that data provided by the researchers are not comparable across countries because each researcher includes different elements in the definition of culture and these elements are reflected in the figures for public expenditure. Figures can also include some, or all, of national, regional or local expenditure. Expenditure on the arts in Ireland comes from multiple sources, both public and private. I understand that the CSO does not produce national statistics that capture the totality of this expenditure as a percentage of GDP.

The issue of a definition of culture and of capturing public expenditure on culture is one which was discussed in the public consultation process that was held for the purpose of developing Ireland's first national cultural policy, Culture 2025, and I consider that further research on this issue is warranted in that context.