Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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192. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if Creative Ireland will see an increase in the existing funding for the arts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7702/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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.

In Budget 2017, I secured significant additional funding for the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board. The increase in the Arts Council's allocation in 2017 is €5 million, or 8%, and will assist the Council greatly in implementing its 10-year strategy Making Great Art Work (2016-2025). I also secured an increase of €2 million for the Irish Film Board, representing a 14% increase in its annual budget. This increase in funding will allow the Board to invest more in Irish talent in the year ahead and follows on from a very successful year for the Irish film sector, particularly the indigenous film sector.

Budget 2017 also includes:

- increased funding for all of the National Cultural Institutions;

- an increase of €1 million for Culture Ireland;

- an additional €1 million to the Heritage Council; and

- funding of €5m for the implementation of the Creative Ireland Programme.

All of this represents real and substantial funding increases across the arts and cultural area and has been welcomed across the sector. It reaffirms 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.