Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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203. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which opportunities continue to exist for philanthropists to engage in and support the Arts nationally and locally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46056/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Private support for the arts is an important funding source and the Government continues to support this through tax incentives and other initiatives. The Programme for a Partnership Government contains a commitment to encourage strong, mutually beneficial links between the business community and the arts community to assist arts organisations to capitalise on sponsorship opportunities and to develop business partnerships and fundraising skills.

An increase of €2m to the ceiling for donations of cultural goods to National Cultural Institutions under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act was announced in Budget 2024. The increased the annual capacity of the scheme from €6m to €8m - the first increase since 2002. This scheme of incentivised donation provides a great opportunity for acquisitions to the national collections that would not be possible otherwise. The scheme has been beneficial to the National Cultural Institutions and other public collections.

In 2023, there were six donations made to the National Collection to five different institutions under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Donations cumulatively amounted to just over €5.3 million included;

• Two Donations of Irish Silver to the National Museum
• Hughie O'Donoghue Donation to the National Gallery
• Donation of Irish Silver to Waterford Treasures Museum
• Mallaghan Collection Donation to Castletown House OPW
• Donation of works by Alexander Calder to the Hugh Lane Gallery
• My Department also provides funding to Business to Arts for their Fundraising Fellowship Ireland which offers two cultural organisations 50% funding toward the employment of a full-time ‘Fundraising’ or ‘Marketing & Fundraising’ professional over a 24-month period. The recruited Fellows are supported by a structured programme of training and mentorship with Business to Arts as part of the Fellowship.
• Throughout these programmes, the Fellows take part in an intensive 24-month programme of training and mentorship, with each participating organisation receiving in excess of €80,000 worth of investment in matched-funding and professional development from Business to Arts. As part of this, leading Irish and international experts offer masterclasses to develop knowledge and understanding, offering practical and real life expertise. The Fellows also work with smaller organisations to impart their expertise to them, thus increasing the reach of the programme.
• Over €1.9 million has been raised by the Fellows of these organisations during their time participating in the programme since its inception, supporting a total of €15.2m combined for their organisations during their respective Fellowship programmes.
• The Arts Council, which is funded by my Department, is the body responsible for delivering primary support for the arts in Ireland. The Arts Council supports and develops the arts in Ireland through grant funding, project awards, support to individual artists, and support to venues, publications and resource organisations. The Council is independent in its funding decisions under the Arts Act 2003.
• The Arts Council operates the RAISE programme, which seeks to enhance fund-raising skills in arts organisations with a view to diversifying the sector's sources of funding. It is designed to assist the sector in securing philanthropic contributions to the arts in Ireland. Many arts organisations have benefited from and continue to benefit as a result of the RAISE initiative.
• Funding for the Arts Council has increased very significantly in recent years, from €105m in 2020 to €134m in 2024 and €140m in Budget 2025.