Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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259. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the initiatives she has taken or proposes to take to encourage cultural activities throughout the country with particular reference to ongoing challenges such as Covid-19 or other threats in the short and medium-term; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55443/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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261. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the degree to which her Department has assisted with community-based arts and cultural activities, by county, in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55445/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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262. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which her Department continues to liaise with cultural and arts groups, including the performing arts; if she is satisfied with the progress in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55446/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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263. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which her Department, directly or through the Arts Council and Kildare County Council, has assisted with productions at a club (details supplied); her proposals for do so in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55447/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 259 and 261 to 263, inclusive, together.

The all-of Government Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022, led by my Department, seeks to enable each citizen to realise their full creative potential. Under its Creative Communities initiative, annual funding is provided to the 31 local authorities to enable them implement their individual Culture and Creativity Strategies 2018-2022 and to support the delivery of Cruinniú na nÓg, the national day of free creative activities for children and young people.

During 2020, funding to local authorities by the Programme substantially increased to support the delivery of the strategies, including responding to COVID-19. This higher level of funding was maintained in 2021, including the continuation of the Creativity in Older Age Scheme. The scheme invited local authorities, directly and/or through partnerships with creative operators or organisations in the community, to deliver initiatives that supported positive aging, mitigated the negative impact of social cocooning and social distancing, and developed new forms of creative engagement for older people that accommodated prevailing public health guidance in the community and for residential care facilities.  Funding allocated to the Local Authorities through Creative Communities from January 2020 to date will be sent directly to the Deputy.

The Culture and Creativity Team in Kildare County Council delivered a wide range of community based initiatives that engaged cultural and arts groups. These included the Lockdown Art Exhibition 2020 at the John Sullivan Day Centre in Clane and the Kildare Covid-19 Notebook project which engaged older people and those who were cocooning. Building on a very successful public art intervention, two artworks (murals) exploring local fauna, flora and biodiversity were delivered in Monasterevin Town with additional support provided by my department in 2021 to continue the initiative.

My Department has funded a wide range of activities in the cultural sphere, many of which involve the online presentation of events that would normally have taken place live and in-person. These include a myriad of online performances, events such as Cruinniú na nÓg and a wide range of activities presented by Ireland's National Cultural Institutions.

I am acutely aware of the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the arts/culture and live entertainment sectors. To support the industry through this difficult period I have to date allocated funding for a suite of measures designed to sustain and support live performance and employment opportunities in the sector, including the following schemes detailed below.

In July 2020, my Department opened up a new funding scheme, Stream D of the Cultural Capital Scheme 2019-2022 as a direct response to the COVID 19 crisis. The primary focus of the scheme is the capital adaptations, renovations or supply of equipment necessary for arts and culture facilities to help them reopen safely and to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in these facilities. The theatre to which the Deputy refers applied under this scheme in November 2020 and was awarded €10,000 towards the cost of live streaming equipment including cameras, network, video production system and its associated installation. This funding was fully drawn down in June 2021.

The Arts Council is the agency through which Government support for the arts sector is delivered. In 2021, I allocated a record €130m to the Arts Council to provide for the arts sector including those in the performing arts. Details of Arts Council funding of arts organisations is  published on its website.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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260. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the degree to which her Department has assisted with cultural activities in the past year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55444/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I was very cognisant of the challenges the restrictions caused for the arts/culture and live entertainment industry in 2021. I allocated over €60m to support the sector and drive employment opportunities through the introduction of the following schemes:

- €25m Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS)

- €16.5m Events Sector Covid Support Scheme (ESCSS)

- €10m Local Live Performance Support Scheme (LLPSS)

- €4m Music and Entertainment Support Scheme (MEBAS)

- €5m Commercial Entertainment Capital Grant Scheme (CECGS) and

- €1m St. Patricks Festival.

I have allocated €25m for the live entertainment sector as part of Budget 2022 and I am examining the supports in place for the sector to ensure that available resources are best deployed to meet the needs of the sector to ensure a full recovery is possible.

As part of Budget 2022, I have maintained the Arts Council allocation at the record-level of €130m. This allocation will allow the Arts Council to continue to protect jobs and livelihoods of artists, and assist arts organisations through financial difficulties.

Other priorities for Budget 2022 was to secure €25m in funding for a pilot Basic Income Guarantee Scheme for artists and arts workers. I plan to launch this pilot scheme early in 2022.

Culture Ireland, which operates under the aegis of my Department, promotes Irish arts worldwide. While traditionally funding was being offered towards travel and travel related costs only, owing to COVID-19, since early 2020 support is also offered towards presentation by Irish artists online.  In response to the quickly changing situation over the past 19 months, Culture Ireland has increased the frequency of its grant rounds from 3 to 6 per year.

The global pandemic also gave rise to Culture Ireland’s Ireland Performs initiative which was an early direct response allowing Irish artists to connect from their locality with global audiences online. It was followed by SEODA online festival celebrating St Patrick's Day which was curated and delivered on Culture Ireland’s YouTube channel.

In late 2020,  Music Industry Stimulus Package with  a fund of €1.7m was put in place to stimulate areas of work usually funded with income from artists' own sources, including live event fees. The music stimulus schemes was targeted at professional musicians and their teams and supported song writing camps, recording and album releases.

To date almost €1.9m was spent by Culture Ireland on support for individual artists, art organisations and annually funded initiatives in 2021.