Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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48. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the measures she will implement to support professional female artists. [37375/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Arts Council is the primary State agency for funding the arts and I was pleased to secure significant additional funding for it in Budget 2017. This will see an increase in the Council's allocation of € 5million, or 8%, and will allow the Council to enhance supports to artists and arts organisations. The Arts Council’s Strategy Making Great Art Worksets out the Council’s plans to lead the development of the arts in the decade to 2025.  The Strategy prioritises the professional artist as well as public engagement and outlines a range of actions that will be taken to deliver on its vision. The Council has reaffirmed its commitment to excellence, freedom of expression and diversity in terms of gender and background.  The Arts Council is, of course, statutorily independent in relation to the performance of its functions regarding funding of the arts.

In my role as Minister, I seek to take every opportunity to encourage and promote female representation in the arts and culture sector.  I recently appointed three new female Chairs to the Irish Film Board, the National Concert Hall and the National Museum of Ireland and I have taken proactive steps to ensure gender balance on the State Boards under my remit.

I also met recently with representatives from the WakingTheFeminists movement, who provided me with an update on their work one year on. I committed to look at the issue of the introduction of gender policies across our cultural institutions, which I believe could have a positive impact on female participation and representation in the arts.

It is also worth noting that, as part of the economic analysis I have commissioned into the film sector, I have asked my Department officials to incorporate the issue of gender balance in the sector into the work of the steering group overseeing the report.