Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

56. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position with regard to the community grants scheme for 2019; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8698/19]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Heritage Council's Community Grants Scheme.

The Heritage Council, which is funded by my Department, is independent in the performance of its functions. It is primarily a matter for the Heritage Council to decide how its funding is allocated across the range of research, education and conservation programmes it supports, including its Community Grants Scheme. Further information about the specific schemes or grants it operates may be obtained from the Heritage Council.

In relation to the more general matter of funding to the Heritage Council, I was pleased to announce increased funding of €6.588m for the Heritage Council in 2019, compared to €6.377m in 2018.

The Voted funding from my Department to the Heritage Council each year is published in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Revised Estimates Volume. For ease of reference, the amounts since 2015 are as follows:

The Heritage Council is at an exciting and defining moment in 2019 with the launch of its new Strategic Plan “Heritage at the Heart” 2018-2022 and the appointment of its new Chief Executive, Virginia Teehan, from 1 February 2019.  Final decisions on funding in 2019 for the Council’s various activities, including its Community Grants will be made by the new CEO and the Council in the coming weeks.