Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to improve the working environment for artists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31158/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have retained the majority of the €18 million current funding which was provided for the 2016 Commemorations for reallocation to arts and cultural purposes within my Department’s vote. It will, therefore, become part of the baseline figures for my Department, meaning that it will be carried forward into future years.

Budget 2017 will include

- an additional €5 million for the Arts Council, an 8% increase in its annual budget;

- increased funding for all of the National Cultural Institutions;

- an increase of €2 million for the Irish Film Board and €1 million for Culture Ireland; and

- an additional €1 million to the Heritage Council.

I have also secured a new funding stream of €5m for the implementation of a Culture 2025/Ireland 2016 Legacy Programme, which will allow me to build on the positive legacy of the Ireland 2016 commemorations. I will be announcing details of this new initiative shortly.

All of this represents real and substantial funding increases across the arts and cultural area and has been welcomed across the sector. It also re-affirms the commitment of this Government to progressively increase funding for the arts as the economy improves, as set out in the Programme for a Partnership Government.

The Arts Council is, of course, the main mechanism through which the Government directs funding to the arts and to artists and the 8% increase in its annual budget will allow the Council to enhance support to artists and arts organisations. The Council provides significant support to individual artists through bursaries, as well as individual grants. Last year the Arts Council published its new Strategy Statement Making Great Art Work. This sets out the Council’s plans to lead the development of the arts in the decade to 2025 and prioritises two policy areas – the artist and public engagement.

The place of artists in society has also been recognised in the draft framework policy Éire Ildánach/Culture 2025, which was forwarded to the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs last July.

Furthermore, my Department continues to work with other Departments to promote the cultural and creative industries within the framework of the Government’s overall objectives under the Action Plan for Jobs. All of the measures to support art, culture and film re-affirm the commitment of this Government to progressively increase funding for the arts as the economy improves and also reflect the importance attached to promoting and supporting our artistic and cultural strengths, and supporting jobs in our creative industries.

Earlier this year, I announced a new €9 million investment scheme for arts and cultural centres to run over the next three years, focussed on enhancing the existing stock of such centres around the country. The funding is being made available as part of the Capital Investment Framework 2016-2021. It is my priority to target investment at securing and enhancing existing cultural facilities which will assist in improving the working environment for many artists.