Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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387. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has agreed to carry over funding for the 1916 commemoration to the general arts, culture and film programme to 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11677/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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409. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the approach she is taking to ensure that the €50 million spent in 2017 on commemoration will be retained in the arts budget for 2017 for the benefit of the arts and culture nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11702/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 387 and 409 together.

In 2016, once off funding of approximately €49 million was allocated to the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme under my Department’s Arts Division ; approximately €18 million in current funding and €31 million in capital.

This capital funded once off projects including the new visitor centre at the GPO, Richmond Barracks, the Kevin Barry Rooms at the National Concert Hall and the Athenaeum in Wexford.

As part of the 2017 Budget, I retained the majority of the €18 million current funding for 2017 which is now part of the baseline for the Arts division of the Department, meaning it will be available for future years.

This included:

- An additional €5m for the Arts Council, an 8% increase in its annual budget;

- Boosts in funding for all of the National Cultural Institutions;

- €2m to allow for the opening of the newly restored historic wings at the National Gallery of Ireland and the opening of Killarney House on the foot of significant capital investment by the State;

- An increase of €2m for the Irish Film Board and €1m for Culture Ireland;

- Funding of €5m for the implementation of the Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022.

I am confident that this substantial increase in funding for the arts, culture and film sectors will allow us to build on the positive legacy of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme.It also re-affirms the commitment of the Government to progressively increase funding for the arts as the economy improves and also reflects the importance attached to promoting and supporting our artistic and cultural strengths, and supporting jobs in our creative industries.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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388. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the Government will commit to the long-term goal of increasing arts funding to the European average of 0.6% of GDP. [11678/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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 was sent to the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for input in July 2016.

However, this Government is committed to increasing provision for arts and culture in Ireland. The Taoiseach and I launched the Creative Ireland Programme – Clár Éire Ildánach 2017 – 2022on the 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 wellbeing.

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 wellbeing and achievement. The Creative Ireland Programme is the main implementation vehicle for the priorities identified in Culture 2025/Éire Ildánach, the draft cultural policy which I published last year and which sees a vibrant cultural ecosystem as essential to society.

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 Creative Ireland Programme is supported by significant additional resources which are being directed towards the arts and culture sector.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.

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.

I also recently announced details of more than €9 million in capital funding for existing dedicated arts and culture centres across the country. The Creative Ireland Arts and Culture Capital Scheme is the most significant investment in arts and cultural centres in a decade and will target investment at a range of different facilities, including arts centres, theatres, galleries and museums, as well as artists’ studios and creative spaces. This kind of investment is at the centre of what I am trying to achieve through Creative Ireland Programme and the Action Plan for Rural Development

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

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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389. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to increase funding in the arts over the lifetime of the Government; and her views on whether funding for the Arts Council and Irish Film Board should be doubled. [11679/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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408. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on the recent comments by the outgoing artistic director of the Gate Theatre (details supplied) that the Arts Council should be getting three or four times the amount it receives from the Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11701/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 389 and 408 together.

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.

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 a Legacy Programme now known as the Creative Ireland Programme and the main implementation vehicle for the priorities identified in the draft framework policy Culture 2025/Éíre Ildánachwhich I published in July last year.

I also recently announced details of more than €9 million in capital funding for existing dedicated arts and culture centres across the country. The Arts and Culture Capital Scheme is the most significant investment in arts and cultural centres in a decade and will target investment at a range of different facilities, including arts centres, theatres, galleries and museums, as well as artists’ studios and creative spaces. This kind of investment is at the centre of what I am trying to achieve through Creative Ireland Programme and the Action Plan for Rural Development.

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

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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390. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will create an arts capital fund, modelled after the sports capital fund, to ensure better long term funding for Irish arts. [11680/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I recently announced details of grants of over €9 million in capital funding for arts and culture centres across the country. This capital scheme is the most significant investment in arts and cultural centres in a decade and will target investment at a range of different facilities, including arts centres, theatres, galleries and museums, as well as artists’ studios and creative spaces. This kind of investment is at the centre of what I am trying to achieve through Creative Ireland and the Action Plan for Rural Development. The Arts and Culture Capital Scheme was considerably over-subscribed. The Department received 106 applications in total under Stream 1 and 2 seeking total funding of over €20m with eligible requests for funding totalling over €14.6m. Following the assessment process, 56 projects are being funded. Seven flagship projects will receive substantial funding allocations while a further 49 projects will receive funding ranging from €20,000 to €276,000.

I will be opening a further Stream of funding under this Scheme in the coming weeks. It will provide smaller capital grants of up to €20,000 to not-for-profit organisations with a defined arts and cultural remit. While the amounts involved are relatively modest, the grants will in themselves make a huge difference to individual organisations and will be of particular benefit to local cultural centres throughout rural Ireland.

The arts and culture capital grant scheme is operated in a similar way to the sports capital grant scheme.