Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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309. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of applications received from various amateur societies involved in the promotion of the arts throughout County Kildare in the past 12 months; the extent to which she expects to be in a position to respond positively to such applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20504/18]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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310. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she continues to communicate with local community groups involved in the production of amateur dramatic and musical festivals with particular reference to the need to offer appropriate financial assistance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20505/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 309 and 310 together.

Enabling creativity in every community is a key strand of the Creative Ireland Programme. To facilitate community engagement with creative activities, each of the 31 local authorities has established a Culture Team and has a designated Creative Ireland co-ordinator.

In 2017, each local authority published and implemented local Culture and Creativity Plans which were supported by an allocation of €2m (€1m from my Department and €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government). In total, these plans listed over 750 local cultural projects, events and initiatives taking place nationwide last year which gave us a snapshot of the rich cultural activity taking place in each country. The 2017 plan for Kildare can be accessed through this link: . The Department does not manage the application processes for these funding applications and is not prescriptive as to which creative activity should be prioritised.

Each local authority is now in the process of drawing up more detailed five-year Strategic Creativity Plans which will be published later this year. These strategies will be accompanied by an Activity Plan outlining initiatives being supported by the local authorities in their respective areas. The implementation of these Activity plans will be supported by a sum of €3m (€2m from my own Department and €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government). Each local authority will therefore receive approximately €96,000 this year under the Creative Ireland Programme.