Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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71. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount of funding being provided for the arts in 2017; the amount that will be allocated by the agencies or organisations under the remit of her Department; the amount being allocated to arts projects directly by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20085/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Details of the funding allocations made available to my Department are published each year in the Revised Estimates Volume with the outturn published in the annual Appropriation Account. These publications are available on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and on the website of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

As is shown in the published figures, the 2017 allocation to Arts , Culture and Film is €158.261m and most of this is allocated to the agencies under the aegis of the Department. Details of the expenditure outturns are published each year in the Appropriation Account and these are published by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General at www.audgen.gov.ie.

I secured significant additional funding for the Arts Council and the Irish Film Boardin Budget 2017. 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 ArtWork (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.

Where my Department makes direct grants to organisations, the figures are published on the website of my Department at www.ahg.gov.ie. The figures for 2017 will be published in due course.