Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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939.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated full-year cost of doubling the current spending on the arts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32609/24]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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940.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated full-year cost of increasing the spending on the arts by 10%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32610/24]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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941.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated full-year cost of increasing spending on the arts to the EU average of 0.6% of GDP; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32611/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 939 to 941, inclusive, together.

The overall allocation for the 2024 Arts & Culture programme of Vote 33 - the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media - as published in the Revised Estimates Volume is €369.336m. Doubling that amount is €738.672m. 10% of that amount is €36.934m. Within the Arts & Culture programme, the 2024 allocation to the Arts Council is €134.278m. 10% of that amount is €13.428mm and doubling it equals €268.556m

My Department’s Arts and Culture programme aims to promote and develop Ireland’s world class artistic and creative strengths at home and abroad, maximising their societal and economic value for the country, and supporting Arts and the entertainment sector to develop and grow. As Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, I allocate funding towards this arts and culture programme. Budget 2025 is currently being considered by Government in the context of the annual estimates process. There has been sustained and significant growth in public expenditure to support arts and culture under the current Government and I will look to sustain and where possible increase that support in the context of the forthcoming Budget Estimates process.

The Eurostat estimate for the European Union average expenditure on Cultural Services as a percent of GDP in 2022 was 0.5%. The Irish equivalent using the international Classification of the Functions of Government (CoFoG) is 0.2%. These figures were published on 22 February 2024 and 2022 is the most recent year for which information is available. The CSO estimate that 2022 GDP at current market prices was €506.3bn and 0.5% of this is €2.5bn.

As has been acknowledged by my colleague the Minister for Finance, and as is generally acknowledged, as one of the most globally-integrated economies in the world, and with a large foreign owned footprint, interpreting conventional measures of economic activity particularly GDP is especially challenging in an Irish context.

Also published by Eurostat in February 2024, its estimate for the European Union average expenditure on Cultural Services as a percent of total public expenditure was 0.9% in 2022. This compared to the Eurostat estimate of 0.8% for Ireland.