Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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24. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps she its taking to support festivals in meeting rising operating costs. [23338/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I am conscious of the challenges involved in putting on festivals, the contribution they make to the artistic and cultural life of local communities and how they make destinations more attractive to domestic and international tourists. Accordingly, my Department and the relevant agencies under its aegis support the staging of festivals.

In that regard, my Department runs a Small Scale Local Festivals and Summer Schools Scheme annually. The Scheme is designed to support local cultural festivals and summer schools which are not in receipt of funding support from the Government and other State Agencies. The 2023 Festivals and Summer School scheme was opened for applications on the Department’s website on 28 April and the deadline for receipt of applications is 9 June. In 2022 I allocated over €116,000 to 33 festivals across the country which was an increase of almost a third on the previous year's funding.

The Arts Council also provides financial support to a range of festivals, large and small, both single art form and multidisciplinary arts festivals. Strategic Funding supports organisations which are critical to the national arts infrastructure while the Festivals Investment Scheme is specifically designed to offer support to local/voluntary organisations to develop arts festivals.

As part of their Strategically Funded Festivals, Fáilte Ireland supports a diverse selection of larger festivals and events throughout the country. The Regional Festival Scheme, which they also support, is available to local community festivals and is administered by the Local Authorities. Each Local Authority manages their own application and grant process.

I have asked both the Arts Council and Fáilte Ireland to reply directly to the Deputy in regard to their funding assessment processes and how operational costs are taken into account.