Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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739. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to ensure the allocation of funding being provided for the arts by her Department is decided by the Arts Council only; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20089/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Most of my Department's arts and culture budget is allocated to the agencies under its remit. Within these allocations, the Arts Council is the primary State agency for funding the arts in Ireland. In 2017, I will provide over €65m to the Arts Council, an increase of over 8% since 2016. Details of the Arts Council's expenditure including its individual grants can be viewed on the Arts Council's decisions database which provides a listing of 2007–2017 Arts Council funding decisions. Decisions are routinely published in the Arts Council newsletter, and decisions are also recorded in the Arts Council's annual reports, which are available online.

The Council is statutorily independent in relation to its funding and executive decisions.

My Department has traditionally provided funding for capital investment in arts and cultural infrastructure and across a range of other cultural initiatives. Details in this regard are available on my Department’s website.