Vol. 518 No. 1
49 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the specific proposals she will bring forward to ensure that the arts are decentralised and demystified in view of her speech of 4 March 2000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10893/00]
Regionalisation is extremely important for the democratisation of the arts. The current arts plan is underpinned by an area based approach. The area based approach to planning is one in which the needs of a given area are addressed by developing integrated policies and services across all sectors. It seeks to maximise benefits through a planned co-operative approach combining elements of bottom up and top down activity and open to opportunity in a wider social context. It is important to highlight that nearly all local authorities now have arts officers who are co-funded by the Arts Council and work in close co-operation with it to promote the arts locally.
Under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 the Government is committed to facilitating the further development of the State's arts and culture infrastructure. The previous programme of development under the cultural development incentive scheme, which was part funded by the Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-1999, has facilitated an increase in the number of arts facilities and venues in the regions, the provision of which will facilitate greater access and participation in the arts for all our citizens.
I am at present finalising a new national support capital programme to assist further necessary development in this area. The new programme that I will be putting in place will have three strands – first, the provision of new regional, city and county projects to fill gaps in existing facilities; second, the redevelopment of existing arts and culture infrastructure; and third, the programme will assist the development of community based projects.
The programme will have an application and assessment process and I hope to be in a position to formally launch the new programme and to make a call for applications in the near future.
