Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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164. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on expanding existing supports for community groups to put on cultural events, including exhibitions and concerts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33620/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Creative Ireland Programme is an all-of-Government initiative led by my department that is designed to promote individual, community and national well-being. Its core proposition is that participation in cultural activity by everyone drives personal and collective creativity, with significant implications for individual and societal well-being and achievement.

Since 2018, the Creative Ireland Programme has invested in local communities, through a strategic partnership with local government with my department allocating funding of €36.8 million to the 31 local authorities to support the delivery of over 7,350 creative and cultural projects throughout the country.

In implementing Creative Communities, local authorities have demonstrated how creative and cultural projects with local communities, broadens access to, and participation in, cultural and creative activities, including events, exhibitions and concerts. This encompasses Cruinniú na nÓg, the National Day of Creativity for children and young people, that delivered 1,300 events across the island of Ireland on Saturday 7th June.

Under Creative Youth, my Department invests in Local Creative Youth Partnerships based seven in Education and Training Boards, with an eighth due to be established this year. In partnership with the Department of Education and Youth and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, this initiative ensures young people themselves are at the heart of developing and implementing opportunities to engage with creative and cultural activities.

Under Creative Health & Well-being my department works with the Department of Health to fund collaborations between Creative Ireland and Health Ireland teams on local authorities, with over €2 million being invested in 2024 and 2025. Projects range across social prescribing, social inclusion, health promotion, supporting people living with dementia and their families, end of life and bereavement, supporting international protection applicants, and children with chronic health conditions

The Creative Ireland Programme is in place until 2027 and will continue to collaborate across Government and in tandem with arts, community and voluntary organisations, to support them to be creative within their locales.

In addition, my Department has allocated €2.5 million towards the development of initiatives to support a vibrant inclusive and culturally diverse Night-Time Economy including concerts. The outcome of the Small-Scale Local Festivals and Summer Schools scheme, that supports not-for-profit festivals and summer schools, will be announced shortly.

The Arts Council also provides financial support to a range of festivals, large and small, both single art form and multidisciplinary. This includes the Strategic Funding stream, which supports organisations 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.