Vol. 482 No. 2
27 Mr. Enright asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands her views on the difficulties being experienced by many artists in attempting to make a decent living from their work; the discussions, if any, she has had with the Association of Artists in Ireland in this regard; the way in which she intends to rectify this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17328/97]
The Deputy will be aware that one of the functions of An Chomhairle Ealaíon — the Arts Council is to promote the practice of the arts. Operating independently under the Arts Acts, 1951 and 1973, and with an allocation of £20.834 million available to it in 1997 to fund its operations, An Chomhairle carries out its work in this regard autonomously through a wide range of policies and programmes which, among other matters, are designed to provide financial assistance and other support services for individual artists. Support for the individual arts practitioner is, therefore, one of the fundamental elements of the work of An Chomhairle Ealaíon. An Chomhairle discharges its responsibilities in this regard through the various bursary and award schemes it operates for artists in such disciplines as the visual arts, music, drama, literature and film, and also through the operation of the Aosdána scheme, which provides to its qualifying members an annual payment or cnuas of the order of £8,720 to allow them to concentrate full-time on their work. In addition, and uniquely, the Irish Government does not levy income tax on the earnings of individual artists from their creative work. I believe the above information clearly demonstrates the State's high level of commitment to the individual arts practitioner through the forgoing of income tax by the Revenue Commissioners and through the provision of direct financial assistance by An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
The Deputy will also be pleased to note that I have agreed to meet a delegation from the Association of Artists in Ireland on 4 November next to discuss a number of issues which are of concern to that organisation.
