Written answers

Tuesday, 29 June 2021

Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

Departmental Budgets

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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178. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the headings and subheadings under her vote, Vote 33 or any other vote, the €50 million promised to live performance in Budget 2021 is categorised under. [34585/21]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The €50 million suite of measures to support those in the live entertainment sector is allocated under the B6 subhead - Regional Museums, Galleries and Cultural Centres & Projects.

Projects funded under the B6 subhead meet a specific cultural need and support the high level goal of the department in relation to enhancing access to the arts, culture and film sectors and recognising the social and economic role of these sectors in Ireland. The projects make a very important contribution to the development and promotion of Ireland’s cultural tourism offering, to the benefit of both the domestic and foreign tourist and represent an important component of the delivery of the cultural tourism commitments in the Programme for Government.

As part of this suite of supports, I was pleased to recently announce the allocations for the €25m Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS 2021). 237 successful applications have been allocated grants under this scheme, the details of which are available on my Department’s website. These grants will help support employment and wellbeing opportunities across all genres and the continued production of high quality artistic output for the public.

I have also made an allocation of €14m available for the Music and Entertainment Business Assistance Scheme (MEBAS) to make a contribution to the overheads of businesses, specifically musicians and related crew, that have been significantly negatively affected by COVID-19 and that do not qualify for other business supports. Applications may be made via the MEBAS application portal on my Department’s website.

I have also made €5 million available to local authorities for live performances in summer 2021 to animate town centres, should public health considerations permit. This funding will be allocated shortly.

5 million will also be made available for a scheme of capital supports for the commercial live entertainment sector. The details of this scheme are currently being considered and will be announced in due course.

Up to €1 million was allocated to the St Patrick's Festival 2021 for programming and it has supported over 3,500 days of employment for performers, producers, artists, technicians, creatives and support staff. With gatherings still restricted, SPF 2021 curated a rich and dynamic programme of events involving hundreds of artists, musicians, performers, creators, and community organisations which was broadcast on the St. Patrick’s Festival TV online channel marking the national day.

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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179. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the breakdown of the intended recipients of the €59,870,000 allocated in current expenditure to regional museums, galleries, cultural centres and projects under Vote 33 in the revised estimates; and the funding streams and State schemes that are distributing this funding. [34586/21]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The breakout of the €59,870,000 allocated to Subhead B6 of my Department's Vote for 2021 is as follows:

- €45m for the Live Performance Support Scheme. I recently announced the allocation of €25m under this Scheme to assist commercial venues, producers and promoters to plan live performances across the country over the summer months, €5m to local authorities and the €14m MEBAS support for musicians and crew

- €9.15m to the Creative Ireland Programme, including the very successful Cruinniú na nÓg series of events.

- €4.11m operational and programme funding for key cultural bodies, such as the Hunt Museum, The James Joyce Centre and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

- Two funding schemes, the results of which were recently announced, namely:

- €147,000 for cross-border cultural projects under the Cooperation with Northern Ireland Scheme

- €96,400 for 28 projects under the Small Local Festivals and Summer Schemes

- €207,000 for EU and International programmes, such as the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage programme and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM).

- €1,159,600 for cultural projects, programme and policies such as Music in Great Irish Houses, Feis Ceoil, Hot Press Young and Emerging Artists Series, and Night Time Culture.

Details of the results of the schemes mentioned above may be found on my Department’s website at www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-tourism-culture-arts-gaeltacht-sport-and-media/.

A full breakdown of subhead B6 for previous years can also be found on my Department’s website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/6acdc-cultural-projects-funding/. This is typically published annually following submission of my Department's Draft Appropriation Account to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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180. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the breakdown of the intended recipients of the €27,100,000 allocated in capital expenditure to cultural infrastructure and development under Vote 33 in the revised estimates; and the funding streams and State schemes that are distributing this funding. [34587/21]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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My Department's investment programme for Culture under the National Development Plan (NDP) is set out in its sectoral plan Investing in our Culture, Language and Heritage – 2018 to 2027.Funding has been made available under the NDP for a culture and creativity investment programme. The Department's investment programme includes capital projects, capital programmes and capital grant schemes.

The majority of these capital investments, fall within an ambitious €460 million programme of redevelopment and renovation of our National Cultural Institutions (NCIs). Considerable work has been undertaken to date in partnership with the NCIs themselves and with the OPW in advancing the NCI projects through the appraisal and design/planning stages as required under the Public Spending Code and the the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF). Other flagship projects include the redevelopment of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, in partnership with the Department of Education, the Mary Robinson Centre in Mayo and the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny.

Priority projects under the National Cultural Institutions Investment programme of €460 million can be listed as follows :

National Library of Ireland redevelopment;

Provision of an Archival Repository at the National Archives in Bishop Street;

National Museum of Ireland masterplan redevelopment;

National Concert Hall renovation;

Crawford Art Gallery redevelopment;

National Theatre redevelopment;

Irish Museum of Modern Art renovation;

National Gallery of Ireland – further phases of the masterplan redevelopment;

Chester Beatty Library improvements.

Based on this investment we can expect to see the delivery of significant redevelopments our National Cultural Institutions. 2021 will see the advancement 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. Work is underway on the Preliminary Business Cases for the redevelopment of the Natural History Museum and the Abbey Theatre.

There will also be investments in regional arts and culture facilities and in the digitisation of important National Collection. A Cultural and Creativity investment programme is closely aligned with the cultural infrastructure, creative communities and creative industries pillars of the Creative Ireland Programme and include:

- Drawdown of funding allocated under Streams A, B and D of the Cultural Capital Scheme;

- Drawdown of funding under the national digitisation investment programme whereby collections of national importance are digitised supporting the conservation, preservation and dissemination of collections;

- The Regional Museums Exhibition Scheme; and

- The Music Capital Scheme.

Details of all allocations are set out by programme area and by subhead in the Revised Estimates Volume 2021 (REV2021) published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on its website at www.gov.ie/en/collection/e20037-revised-estimates. All expenditure within my Department's vote will continue to be carefully monitored between now and year end to ensure the best use of available financial resources.

Expenditure from this subhead is published annually on my Department's website. Details of expenditure in previous years is available at the following link

www.gov.ie/en/publication/b1eab-creative-arts-grants-and-funding-previous-schemes/#cultural-development-expenditure.

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