Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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47. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if any research was carried out by her Department into international best practice in relation to arts policy; if her Department has studied the example of Finland which, since independence, has placed central importance on cultural policy and has invested hugely in arts infrastructure; her views on the centralisation of arts funding here, which, according to the Council of Europe's compendium initiative, is characterised by official neglect; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37389/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the Arts Act 2003, primary responsibility for the promotion and support of the arts throughout the country is devolved to the Arts Council.  In this regard, I secured significant additional funding for the Arts Council as part of Budget 2017, amounting to an increase of €5m or 8%.  This will assist the Council in implementing its ten-year strategy Making Great Art Work 2016-2025.This strategy places specific emphasis on the need to plan and provide for children and young people. The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the publication of Culture 2025 as a priority and the draft Framework Policy Éire Ildánach/Culture 2025 was forwarded to the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in July.  The Culture 2025/Éire Ildánach framework policy sets out:

- a series of high-level objectives under the heading of Enrich, Engage, Participate to establish Government vision in relation to culture and society in Ireland;

- a set of key values including the intrinsic value of culture, the right to participate in the cultural life of the nation, and the role of culture in fostering a more sustainable future in Ireland; and

- a series of priority measures for implementation across Government and public bodies.

I understand that the Committee is preparing a report on the draft and I look forward to receiving it.  In the meantime, I believe that it is important to continue the momentum to build on the positive legacy of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme.

My Department has, therefore, been developing a cross-Government initiative to mainstream culture and creativity in the life of the nation and to promote individual, community and national wellbeing. This will focus on boosting cultural provision and participation in communities and harnessing the goodwill and engagement generated by the commemorative programme this year. It will also act as the main vehicle to take forward the priorities identified in Culture 2025.  I have secured funding of €5m in Budget 2017 to underpin this new initiative and I intend to announce further details in the coming weeks.

All these initiatives provide platforms to deepen engagement across the sectors referred to.

I understand that the source of the reference quoted by the Deputy is a Council of Europe research project and that many European countries, including ten EU member states, are not included in the data. I understand also that the data is not standardised and is not comparable across countries. For example, local authority expenditure on the arts, the artists' exemption tax relief, expenditure on public service broadcasting and the Irish language are not included in the figures for Ireland but comparable figures are included in the data for some other countries.

I have previously stated that further research on this issue is warranted.  The issue of a definition of culture and of capturing public expenditure on culture is an element of the draft Culture 2025 framework policy, which, as I have said, is with the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for input.