Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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659. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she expects to be in a position to enhance the promotion and development of an awareness of the arts and culture with a view to maximising economic benefit in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40085/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In 2018, the total current funding for my Department increased by almost 5% or €11.5 m to €248.659 m. This included an additional €2.8 m for the Arts Council; an additional €1.7 m across all of the National Cultural Institutions; almost €1 m additional funding for the Heritage programme and an extra €1.4 m for the 20-year Strategy for the Irish Language.

The Arts Council, the main Irish Government agency for developing the arts, works in partnership with and provides funding for arts, artists, arts organisations, public policy makers and others to build a central place for the arts in Irish life. Festivals, and cultural events are important in this context and the Arts Council received €68 m in funding from my Department in 2018.

In addition to the work of the Arts Council, the Creative Ireland Programme is a high level, high ambition, 5-year initiative, from 2017 to 2022 which aims to place creativity at the centre of public policy. The programme is being led by my Department in partnership with other Government Departments and Agencies, local authorities, the third level sector, arts and culture organisations (including the National Cultural Institutions) and relevant NGOs.

As part of the Creative Ireland Programme, each of the 31 local authorities has established a Culture Team and in 2017 published and implemented local Culture and Creativity Plans which were supported by an allocation of €2 m (€1 m from my Department and €1 m 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.

On 12 September, the Taoiseach, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, and myself as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht launched 31 Local Authority Culture and Creativity Strategies. These ambitious and innovative 5-year Culture and Creativity Strategies have been developed by the network of expert and passionate Culture Teams within the 31 Local Authorities, in consultation with artists, creatives, cultural and heritage organisations, community groups, the creative industries, centres of education and schools across the country. The Strategies embody both the spirit and practice of collaboration and shared purpose, which is at the heart of the Creative Ireland Programme. They aim to provide meaningful opportunities for citizens and local communities, together with our Local Authorities, to build, nurture and sustain our creative society. Each local authority will receive approximately €96,000 this year under the Creative Ireland Programme.

Another significant step in the delivery process has been Project Ireland 2040 which gave explicit recognition to the importance of our culture, language and heritage to our sustainable development over the next decade and beyond. This recognition is underpinned by the unprecedented commitment by Government to invest €1.2 billion in our culture, our language and our heritage - Investing in our Culture, Language and Heritage 2018-2027 sets out the Government’s objectives for capital investment in Ireland’s culture, language and heritage. The plan sets out significant investment on a phased basis over the next 10 years prioritised across 3 areas - €785 m for Culture; €295 m for Heritage and €178 m for our Language.

This level of investment will transform our cultural and heritage infrastructure right across the country and will support the development of employment opportunities across these sectors.