Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The mission of my Department, as set out in the Statement of Strategy 2023-2025, is to lead the sustainable development of Tourism, Media and the Gaeltacht and promote participation in the Culture, Arts, and Sports sectors and the Irish language, supporting social progress, and enhancing cultural and economic growth across Irish society.

I would like to highlight a number of initiatives being undertaken by my Department and its agencies to further these objectives.

In Tourism, under the National Development Plan (NDP), the main programmes of activity for delivering facilities through Fáilte Ireland are the Large Grants Scheme Project such as the Atlantic Museum Galway, Queen Maeve’s Square & Garavogue River Trail in Sligo, and Granard Heritage Park in Co.Longford.

In the Arts and Culture sectors, the National Cultural Institution Capital Investment Programme is an important capital investment programme for cultural infrastructure. Projects are progressing through various stages of appraisal, for example, the National Archival Repository and the Crawford Art Gallery are expected to start construction in the next year.

A priority of my Department is to sustain Gaeltacht communities through investment in Údarás na Gaeltachta and the promotion of the Irish language. For example, capital funding supports many projects, including the proposed redevelopment of the Coláiste Lurgan site in the Connemara Gaeltacht, and a new programme of investment in Irish medium early years centres across the Gaeltacht.

The Sports Capital Equipment Programme is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and physical recreation facilities throughout Ireland. A new round of the programme closed for applications in September 2023, with a record number of applications comprising a total ask of €360m. Allocations are expected to be made in 2024.

The Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund provides support for larger sports projects. Three such projects are finalised and a further 25 projects across the country are at earlier stages of development. On 6 December 2023, additional allocations totalling €37.5m were announced for 27 projects and this should see all such projects advancing quickly in 2024.

In relation to the media sector, TG4 has been provided with an allocation of €57.033m in 2024. This represents a total increase in funding of €19.8m, or 53%, since 2020. The additional funding will support TG4 in the delivery of their 2023 - 2027 strategy, and also provides for the consolidation of the new Cúla4 service.