Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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519. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the distinction between the roles of the Arts Council and Culture Ireland; the relationship between the two agencies; and the reason it was thought necessary to establish Culture Ireland separate from the Arts Council rather than have the Arts Council fulfil its role. [31099/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Arts Council is the national agency for funding, developing and promoting the arts in Ireland established under the Part 3 of the Arts Act 2003. The Council’s statutory functions are to

a. stimulate public interest in the arts;

b. promote knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts;

c. assist in improving standards in the arts;

d. advise the Minister in relation to the performance of any of his or her functions under this Act, when so requested by the Minister;

e. assist the Minister in the performance of his or her functions under this Act and in the implementation of Government policies and objectives in relation to the arts, when so requested by the Minister;

f. furnish advice or information to a Minister of the Government (including the Minister) in relation to any matter connected with its functions, whenever the Council considers it appropriate or is requested to so do by the Minister;

g. furnish advice or information to a public body in relation to any matter connected with its functions, whenever the Council considers it appropriate or is requested to so do by the public body concerned; and

h. cooperate with a public body in relation to any matter connected with its functions, whenever the Council considers it appropriate.

Culture Ireland operates as a division of my Department and is responsible for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide and the implementation of the cultural aims of Global Ireland 2025, advancing Ireland's global impact and strengthening Ireland’s reputation as a world leader in creativity and innovation. Culture Ireland achieves this through

a. supporting Irish artists to present and promote their work at strategic international festivals and venues through a Regular Grant Scheme;

b. facilitating artists to promote their work to international promoters through the Showcase Scheme to gain future opportunities to present their work abroad; and

c. delivering Special Initiatives, which are once-off focus-specific events promoting Irish arts on a global platform such as GB18, the programme of Irish artistic activity with special focus on Britain, prior to Brexit. In June 2012, a critical review of Culture Ireland concluded that the functions of Culture Ireland should be fully merged into the Department and that it should operate with the support of a focussed inter-agency committee including senior representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and other State bodies such as Tourism Ireland. The structure of Culture Ireland ensures a coherent approach to the international promotion of Ireland globally under the Government's high level plan to strengthen Ireland's global reputation and impact and bring combined benefits to Ireland's business and tourism interest through culture.

The Arts Council and Culture Ireland operate together to maximise impacts and ensure the most effective use of resources under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding and the Director of the Arts Council is represented on Culture Ireland's Expert Advisory Committee.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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520. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the distinction between the roles of the Arts Council and Creative Ireland; the relationship between the two agencies; and the reason it was thought necessary to establish Creative Ireland separately to the Arts Council rather than have the Arts Council fulfil its role. [31100/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Creative Ireland Programme is a culture-based, all-of-government initiative led by the Arts and Culture Division of my department. It is a Programme, rather than an agency and its core proposition is that participation in cultural activity drives personal and collective creativity, with significant implications for individual and societal wellbeing and achievement.

While creativity is commonly associated with the arts, it is considered more widely in the context of the Creative Ireland Programme. Creativity is the use of imaginative abilities and learned skills to transform thinking and produce original and innovative ideas and solutions. It involves collaboration, investigation, challenging assumptions and taking risks. There are opportunities for creativity to be expressed not only through the visual and performing arts but inter aliathrough culture, built and natural heritage, writing and learning languages, through mathematics, sciences and digital technology, and in designing, making and entrepreneurial activities.

In striving to mainstream creativity across public policy therefore, substantial strategic engagement is required on an ongoing basis between the officials in my department delivering the Creative Ireland Programme and their counterparts across relevant government departments. In so doing, the Creative Ireland Programme seeks to support each citizen – whether individually or collectively – to realise their full creative potential, by encouraging, facilitating and supporting collaboration in order to cultivate a diverse, accessible and creative cultural ecosystem that sustains wellbeing for all.

The Creative Ireland Programme focuses on supporting direct engagement with all forms of arts, culture and heritage-based creativity (e.g., in education, institutions, industry, and communities). As a legacy of the 2016 Commemorations experience, the Programme also promotes the deployment of creativity as a way of engaging with broader societal issues (e.g., health and wellbeing, social cohesion and inclusion, integration and intercultural dialogue, climate action, biodiversity loss).

The Arts Council is a statutory body under the aegis of my department established under the Arts Act 2003. The Council’s statutory functions are to:

a. stimulate public interest in the arts;

b. promote knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts;

c. assist in improving standards in the arts;

d. advise the Minister in relation to the performance of any of his or her functions under this Act, when so requested by the Minister;

e. assist the Minister in the performance of his or her functions under this Act and in the implementation of Government policies and objectives in relation to the arts, when so requested by the Minister;

f. furnish advice or information to a Minister of the Government (including the Minister) in relation to any matter connected with its functions, whenever the Council considers it appropriate or is requested to so do by the Minister;

g. furnish advice or information to a public body in relation to any matter connected with its functions, whenever the Council considers it appropriate or is requested to so do by the public body concerned; and

h. cooperate with a public body in relation to any matter connected with its functions, whenever the Council considers it appropriate.

As set out above, the core activities of the Arts Council are centred on stimulating public interest only in the art forms laid out in the Arts Act 2003, promoting knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts, improving standards in the arts and otherwise assisting in the development or advancement of the arts. The Council is independent regarding the allocation of its funding to individuals and activities in the performance of these functions.

The Arts Council remains a key partner within the collaborative, all-of-government approach of the Creative Ireland Programme, in particular as the lead implementation partner for the Creative Schools initiative. The Arts Council is also a partner in a Creative Ireland Programme initiative to develop and strengthen structures and mechanisms for collaboration between the arts, culture, social care and health sectors – aimed at supporting positive health and wellbeing outcomes for the public, health service staff, patients, their families and carers.

The collaborative nature of the work of the Creative Ireland Programme (involving partnerships between government departments, state agencies, local government, sectoral bodies and community and voluntary groups), the broader definition of creativity and the more wide-ranging scope of the Programme’s activities including deploying creativity as a wellbeing strategy are key factors in a distinct Creative Ireland Programme initiative.