Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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188. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the delivery mechanisms for the individual art forms under pillar 1; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7663/17]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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189. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount of funding each local authority under pillar 2 of the Creative Ireland scheme will receive; and whether it will be ring-fenced. [7665/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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195. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the details of the planned allocation of the €5 million for Creative Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7705/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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197. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the planned delivery mechanism to achieve the outcomes for the individual art forms under pillar 1; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7707/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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199. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the details of the funding to each local authority, both amounts and rules and guidelines for the spending of these funds under pillar 2; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7709/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 185, 189, 195, 197 and 199 together.

The Taoiseach and I launched the Creative Ireland Programme – Clár Éire Ildánach 2017–2022 on 8 December 2016.

This is a cross-Government initiative to mainstream culture and creativity in the life of the nation and to promote individual, community and national well-being. This will focus on boosting cultural provision and participation in communities and harnessing the goodwill and engagement generated by the 2016 commemorative programme.

The core proposition of this programme is that participation in cultural activity drives personal and collective creativity, with significant implications for individual and societal well-being and achievement. The programme is based on five pillars:

- Enabling the creative potential of every child

- Enabling creativity in every community

- Investing in our creative and cultural infrastructure

- Establishing Ireland as a centre of excellence in media production

- Unifying our global reputation

The aim of Pillar 1 of the Creative Ireland Programme is to enable the creative potential of every child. The Department of Education and Skills and Arts Council will be key partners in implementing this pillar. My Department has commenced discussions with that Department and the Arts Council on the delivery mechanisms for this pillar and it is intended that a national plan will be in place by the end of 2017.

The second pillar – Enabling creativity in every community – will be implemented primarily through our local authorities. This is because local authorities are the primary instruments of community engagement and second, local authorities have a particular capacity for local programme delivery, especially in the context of citizen engagement.

I have asked local authorities to establish a Culture Team bringing together arts officers, librarians, heritage officers, museum curators, archivists and other relevant personnel which will be led by a Director of Services, with a nominated person as 'Creative Ireland Co-ordinator'. The primary role of the Culture Team will be to develop a Culture and Creativity Plan, reflecting the overall structure and aims of the national strategy programme, and then to drive public participation in creative cultural activity in each local authority area.

I have made a specific allocation of €1 million to the local authorities towards the implementation of the 2017 Creative Ireland Plans out of the overall funding of €5m which I secured in Budget 2017 to underpin this new initiative. I am currently considering the overall allocations under the Creative Ireland Programme and will make further announcements in this regard in due course.