Written answers

Tuesday, 8 September 2020

Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

Arts Policy

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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343. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the proposed cross-Departmental task force for the arts and cultural sector; when an announcement is expected on the formation of same; the proposed composition and scope of work of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21096/20]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government Our Share Future contains the following commitment:

"We will establish a cross departmental taskforce to develop a clear approach, informed by the views of all stakeholders, to protect and sustain the arts and culture sector through the COVID-19 recovery and beyond. This will be fed into the National Economic Plan".

I hope to launch this taskforce shortly.

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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344. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to bring forward legislative proposals relating to a policy on meanwhile use to facilitate the temporary conversion of vacant buildings to cultural uses prior to redevelopment which exists in other jurisdictions and which was outlined in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21097/20]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government contains a number of proposals under the heading Creative and Cultural Infrastructure which are listed as follows

- “ Examine ‘Agent of Change’ initiatives, whereby existing cultural spaces have to be taken into account when building is taking place.

- Support measures to increase the provision of affordable workspaces for artists and creative practitioners.

- Examine ‘meanwhile use’ legislation for vacant buildings, with a view to its potential application in Ireland.

- Ensure the timely delivery of arts and culture capital investment commitments, including our National Cultural Institutions, as outlined in Project Ireland 2040.”

Progress is on-going in relation to provision of workspaces for artists and creative practitioners as well as delivery of the arts and culture capital infrastructure set out in Project Ireland 2040. Funding has been made available under the National Development Plan for a culture and creativity investment programme. This investment programme is closely aligned with the Creative Ireland Programme and includes a range of investments in regional arts and culture facilities which include a number of artists’ workspace projects among other initiatives.

Based on this investment we can expect to see the delivery of significant redevelopments our National Cultural Institutions. 2020 will see the delivery of a further phase of the redevelopment at the National Library of Ireland, as well as the commencement of the major construction phase of the National Archives project. This is in addition to a range of preparatory, investigative and enabling works at a number of other NCIs.There will also be investments in regional arts and culture facilities.

My Department has allocated up to €3 million to Dublin City Council for capital development of studio workspaces to match funding provided under the urban regeneration development fund on sites owned by the city council. This level of investment will be of significant benefit to artists in the area and address the deficit in artist workspaces in Dublin city. The local authorities also have important functions with respect to artist studios and spaces.

The term ‘meanwhile use’ of buildings refers to the short-term use of temporarily empty buildings such as shops until they can be brought back into commercial use. The landlord would continue to look for a new commercial occupant for the space during meanwhile use. While legislation on this particular issue will not be a matter for my Department, I am committed to ensuring that all measures set out in the Programme for Government in respect of Creative and Cultural Infrastructure are implemented in full, and I intend to work with colleagues across Government to deliver on this important agenda.

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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345. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to address the crisis in the arts and cultural sector relating to the lack of work, rehearsal and performance space; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21098/20]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Government has announced its intention to prepare and publish a Roadmap for Resilience and Recovery later this month. This will map how we balance public health, economic and social aspects of living with COVID-19 in the short to medium term and try to bring some greater certainty so that society and business can plan forward. The needs of the arts and culture sector will form part of this Roadmap.

I along with the Arts Council, recently had a meeting with the Minister for Health, the Acting Chief Medical Officer and the National Campaign for the Arts. It was agreed at that meeting that the arts sector could provide input which would inform a way forward for a safe return to live performances and activities.

The July stimulus measures are a significant part of government’s response and will help support Ireland's arts community over this crisis. These include:-

- A new €10 million Culture Fund, which will include increased funding for Creative Ireland, to employ artists, funding to support the commissioning of artists to produce creative content for the national broadcast artists, funding to support commissioning as well as a dedicated fund for musicians across a range of genres.

- Over the coming weeks, I hope to launch a new pilot scheme for live performance events to support the live performance sector which will be worth €5m.

- Additional funding to the Arts Council brings its total allocation this year to €105 – some 40% higher than in 2019. A key objective of this funding is to provide enhanced support for freelance artists and arts workers who have been impacted severely by COVID-19.

- Since the advent of the crisis, officials in my Department have also been actively engaging with the arts sector and will continue to meet with arts and cultural organisations under its aegis, as well a broad range of sectoral stakeholders including resource organisations, advocacy groups as well as individual artists and arts practices.

- Separate support packages have been put in place for the other elements of culture including the audio-visual sector and the National Cultural Institutions

Other wider Government measures include liquidity and investment measures and taxation measures as well as labour market interventions

The new Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme will benefit arts organisations and artists across this sector. Many of these organisations availed of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme which allowed them to retain arts workers in employment since March.

The Programme for Government also commits to establishing a cross departmental taskforce to develop a clear approach, informed by the views of all stakeholders, to protect and sustain the arts and culture sector through the COVID-19 recovery and beyond, which in turn will inform the National Economic Plan. This taskforce will be established shortly.

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