Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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114. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to expand the mobility of collections scheme to support loans from the national collections for display in public buildings across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1426/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The National Cultural Institutions are only able to display a small proportion of their full collections at any time.  The purpose of this scheme is to assist in putting items from the National Collections on display to the public on a greater and wider basis. It is hoped especially to facilitate the display of pieces from the National Collections with specific local and regional interest direct to those communities and to facilitate the display of cultural artefacts and relating exhibitions outside urban centres into rural areas.

My Department operates a Mobility of Collections Scheme to support greater regional and local access to material held in the National Collections.  The Scheme is designed to fund the transport, cost of insurance and exhibiting costs for pieces from the National Collections to appropriate institutions around the country.  The closing date for receipt of applications for funding under the scheme in 2021 was the 23^rdApril.

Some recent examples of activities supported by the scheme include:  

- Waterford Museum of Treasures in the Viking Triangle took loan of an eight-branch chandelier dating to 1790 and originally made in Waterford. The loan was facilitated by the National Museum of Ireland.

- Múseam Chorca Dhuibhne has borrowed from the National Museum of Ireland and will be displaying a gold medieval ring brooch which was originally found locally near Dingle in 2015

- The Hunt Museum held a substantial exhibition of 32 works borrowed from the Crawford Art Gallery's Great Southern Art Collection The exhibition ran from June to September and was called Signals of Change 20^thCentury Irish Arts Great Southern Collection.

- A total of €9,122 was allocated in 2018 to regional museums and Galway City Museum received €5,110 in 2019.

I welcome the commitment of the cultural institutions to increase access to the national collections through enhanced online exhibitions and the lending of artefacts for regional and local exhibitions.  My Department will continue to encourage and provide support for the mobility of collections.