Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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16. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she is aware of the exclusion of both comedy and musical theatre from funding opportunities by the Arts Council; if she will use her power under section 5 of the Arts Act 2003 to give direction to the council to comply with a policy that includes both art forms as varieties of theatre eligible for funding; and to provide the dates and times for any instances where she has discussed or corresponded on this matter with the Arts Council since her appointment in 2020. [24340/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Section 2 of the Arts Act 2003 states that “Arts” means any creative or interpretative expression (whether traditional or contemporary) in whatever form, and includes, in particular, visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture, and includes any medium when used for those purposes.

This legislative definition indicates a recognition that arts expression is broad, fluid, constantly changing and evolving. Today artists and arts organisations are increasingly working across and between arts areas. The Arts Council operates under the Arts Act. To reflect and respond to evolving modern arts practitioners, the Arts Council has formed a new Multi-Disciplinary Arts team. This team manages grants that are not discipline-specific. Example of funding include the Touring of Work scheme and the Creative Production Support Scheme.

I understand that the Arts Council also has plans to research and develop a Multi-Disciplinary Arts Policy. Such a policy would set out how the Arts Council supports and enables multi-disciplinary practice in the future. The Council is currently seeking input by way of comments and suggestions from artists, arts practitioners and arts organisations working in these arts areas.

In recent months, the Arts Council published its new Music Policy and Strategy as well as an Implementation Plan which I believe will be launched later this year. Aligned to the development of policies, I understand that the Arts Council will be reviewing its ten-year strategy in preparation for its next strategy from 2026.

Much of the structures around the professional non-commercial arts are supported by the Arts Council and the local authorities. Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to arts centres by local authorities and the Arts Council. Cultural infrastructure owned by local authorities frequently receives capital funding from my Department.

Many festivals in receipt of funding from the Arts Council and my Department have programmes that include comedy, spoken word, musical theatre and other multi-disciplinary events and artists.

Against this background, respect for the arms length principle has been a central tenet of my time as Minister. Any proposal of the kind suggested by the Deputy would require careful consideration to take account of the widest range of views, to avoid unintended consequences and to ensure that it did not constitute, however unintentionally, an intrusion into an issue more appropriate to the Arts Council to determine.