Written answers
Thursday, 21 February 2019
Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Arts Council Funding
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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60. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding supplied to an organisation (details supplied) or via the Arts Council in each of the years 2015 to 2018 and to date in 2019; the number of men and women, respectively, that qualify for funding from the organisation in each of these years; and the county of residence of each. [8690/19]
Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The payments to which the Deputy refers are a matter for the Arts Council, who are independent in their funding decisions. I understand that membership of the organisation to which the Deputy refers is limited to 250 living artists and new members are chosen by peer nomination and election. Members must be (or have been) resident in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland for five years and have produced a body of work that is original and creative.
Members of the organisation may qualify for a means-tested annual payment of €17,180 from the Arts Council called a cnuas, which is designed to enable them to devote their energies fully to their work. Members in receipt of a cnuas report annually on their work and confirm their on-going need of the support. After a period of five years they may re-apply for a cnuas to the Arts Council and their continued eligibility for receipt of the cnuas is assessed. The proportion of the organisation's membership that qualifies for the cnuas varies from year to year but is generally around 60 per cent of the total.
The following table shows the total cost to the Arts Council of the organisation in each of the years requested along with the number of men and women who received funding.
| Year | Male recipients of Cnuas grant | Female recipients of Cnuas grant | Total Cost to the Arts Council |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 106 | 52 | €2,619,950 |
| 2016 | 105 | 53 | €2,650,015 |
| 2017 | 98 | 55 | €2,508,280 |
| 2018 | 97 | 55 | €2,482,510 |
| 2019 to date | 89 | 54 | €622,775 |
The names of every member of the organisation who receives a cnuas payment from the Arts Council is published in the Arts Council’s Annual Report and accounts every year along with the amount he or she received. These are available at the following link
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