Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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434. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she continues to encourage internationally the use of Ireland as a film location with obvious beneficial economic implications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12139/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department will continue to promote economic development of Ireland across its full remit, including for example, under the recently published Action Plan for Rural Development and Creative Ireland Programme. In this regard, the Irish Film Board continues to support the Irish screen industries at major international markets and festivals, promotes inward investment, promotes the use of Ireland as a location for international production and provides support for companies filming in Ireland. The Board liaises with IDA Ireland and Tourism Ireland to maximise joint opportunities for promotion of Ireland as a location for film productions.

The Creative Ireland Programmeis a five-year all-of-government initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which places creativity at the centre of public policy and aims to improve access to cultural and creative activity in every county across the country.

Under Pillar 2 of the Programme - Enabling Culture and Creativity in Every Community - each local authority will be asked to develop a Culture and Creativity Plan, reflecting the overall structure and aims of the national strategy for culture and creativity. Each local authority has now established a Culture Team bringing together arts officers, librarians, heritage officers, museum curators, archivists and other relevant personnel led by a Director of Services, with a nominated person as 'Creative Ireland Co-ordinator'.

The overarching, long-term objective of Pillar 4 - Ireland: A Centre of Excellence in Media Production - is to elevate the creative industries (including media, architecture, design, digital technology, fashion, food and crafts) drawing together, on an all-of-government basis, State agencies, industry partners and those engaged in fostering innovation in enterprise. As an initial project, the key focus will be on Ireland’s potential to be a global leader in film production, TV drama, documentary, children’s storytelling, and animation for the screen.

In this regard, my Department has commissioned an economic analysis of our screen based creative industries, in partnership with the Departments of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. This study will examine the economic impact including employment and the potential of the Irish film, TV and animation sector. The commissioning of the study is a commitment to in the Action Plan for Jobs 2016 and its recommendations will inform the development of policy in this area under the Creative Ireland Programme.