Vol. 718 No. 3
6 Deputy Pádraic McCormack asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport if her attention has been drawn to the fact that concerns have been raised in relation to the establishment of a national opera company and in particular, the effect this will have on the progress made by a company (details supplied) in the recent past; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36769/10]
My predecessor announced a decision to set up Irish National Opera, INO, in December 2009 and appointed an interim board to undertake this task.
The process of forming this new entity is a collaborative one involving my Department, the Arts Council, Opera Ireland and Opera Theatre Company, OTC. The latter is fully engaged in that process and is represented on the interim board of INO.
The new opera company will not be in a position to produce its first full season until 2012 and one of the many challenges to be addressed in that regard is ensuring that public resources are available to meet the ambition of having a world class national opera company in Ireland. The Government remains committed to that ambition. In ensuring that we reach it we have taken the best advice internationally and the former director of the Welsh National Opera is on the interim board of the INO. Meanwhile, Opera Theatre Company will continue to produce opera in 2011 and will be funded to do so by the Arts Council. This has been agreed between the interim board, my Department and the Arts Council.
The building of a wider and more informed audience for opera is a crucial task for INO, which will have the mission of bringing opera to all ages and social groups. OTC has experience in this area and its outreach programme is one of its outputs. It has a wonderful track record artistically and is well managed. Regionally, it is the face, voice and sound of opera in Ireland.
It is of the utmost importance that future arrangements for opera provision in Ireland are organisationally well grounded and financially sensible, with due consideration given to putting appropriate arrangements and resources in place that will ensure the success of that endeavour over the coming years. It is also essential that developmental opportunities are provided for Irish opera talent and that we add to our cultural stock internationally. To this end, my Department and the Arts Council will continue to engage the interim board with a view to achieving a sustainable model for medium to long term opera provision in Ireland. As previously announced, Opera Ireland will be wound down after its autumn season, as its business model for opera provision is no longer sustainable in the current fiscal and arts funding environment. However, there will be public provision for opera in 2011.
In light of the fact that Opera Theatre Company operates very successfully across the country, can the Minister assure us that the new national opera company will be able to stage a similar number of performances in the same range of venues? OTC tours around 18 venues all around the country and it allows many communities to experience opera. I am concerned that we will have a repeat of our experience of national theatre, which does not leave its home in the Abbey Theatre to tour the country even though it is heavily subsidised by the State.
OTC runs a tight shop on a budget of approximately €800,000. I understand OTC and Opera Ireland receive €1.8 million between them but getting the new company up and running will require €4 million. Where will this money be found?
In 2010, Opera Ireland will get €1.62 million and OTC will get €643,000, for a combined total of €2.263 million. It is my intention that the Arts Council will continue to fund OTC next year. As the Deputy noted, the company staged a considerable number of performances in a variety of venues. In 2009 alone it staged 42 performances in 28 venues to a live audience of 15,800. That is exactly what we want opera to do in Ireland. It must reach out to geographically diverse places and to different social groups. My intention is to ensure that Opera Ireland will only present a full programme when it is capable of doing so. In the meantime, we will ensure that Opera Theatre Company continues to be funded.
The Minister more or less answered my question. Was what she described an exercise in cost savings or was the decision made because the quality of opera would be enhanced by the merger of the two companies?
It is the high standard of opera in Ireland, of course.
So says the Leas-Cheann Comhairle as we look forward to the opening of the Wexford Festival Opera this weekend. It is in no way affected by any of these discussions. They do things differently in Wexford.
I look forward to welcoming the Minister to Wexford.
Go raibh maith agat.
It is very important that a new venture have the artistic and creative ability to provide a programme that supports young Irish artists and singers and which can gain international recognition. To do that, it must have proper staffing and an artistic director, in addition to a very good board and funding. In anticipation of the fact that no major programme will be capable of being provided until 2012, the best way to proceed is to continue to support next year Opera Theatre Company's current remit of bringing opera all over the country and to wind down Opera Ireland. This is preferable to beginning something that would not meet any of the requirements.
7 Deputy Bernard Allen asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport the plans in place to celebrate Dublin’s achievement as a United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation City of Literature; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36711/10]
The plans to celebrate the designation of Dublin as UNESCO City of Literature are anchored by Dublin City Council. My Department is represented on the steering committee, as are a number of the arts, culture and tourism agencies under its aegis. As Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, I was very pleased that Dublin was honoured in this way and that the city council's application to UNESCO for the title of Dublin City of Literature was successful. In that regard, I want to record my appreciation of the work done by the steering and management committee, led by the city council's library services, which prepared the award-winning application. The compilation of the winning bid was truly a collaborative effort, and demonstrates what can be achieved when agencies pull together.
The designation as City of Literature is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities network. Dublin has now joined the select few within the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, namely, Edinburgh, Iowa, and Melbourne. Dublin, as a UNESCO City of Literature, has enormous potential for beneficial cultural, tourism and economic impacts, not only in the capital city itself but also in communities across the country. A significant literary component was added to the recent culture night in Dublin, and funded by my Department to mark this magnificent achievement.
By providing a global platform for a city's local cultural assets, the Creative Cities Network is facilitating access to know-how, information and experiences to all member cities as a means to promote the development of local cultural industries and to foster member cities' worldwide recognition.
Dublin is currently known across the globe for its writers, from Behan to Stoker and from Doyle to Sheridan. It has been home, inspiration and subject to generations of the finest writers the world has known. My Department, and the tourism and cultural agencies under its aegis, will work with Dublin City Council to leverage as much cultural and economic benefit from this designation as we can.
At the announcement of the UNESCO designation at our newest theatre, the Grand Canal Theatre, we were able to present a world-class line-up of our Irish literary talent, including poets Thomas Kinsella and Theo Dorgan, in addition to novelists and award winners Joseph O'Connor, Cathy Kelly and Colm Tóibín, and our children's laureate, Siobhán Parkinson, to mention just a few.
Our literary reputation is not just something imaginary and part of the Dublin mist; it is vibrantly, visibly and abundantly all around us, and the City of Literature designation will allow us to showcase it to the world. With that in mind Culture Ireland is including a very significant literature component in its cultural programme for North America in 2011. I will be launching that programme next month in the United States and I have invited the director of the City of Literature organisation to join the trade mission supporting that launch. In addition, the tourism agencies are heavily promoting the designation. To date, the response internationally has been impressive.
My Department and the Arts Council are working closely with Dublin City Council on its programme to mark the designation in 2011 and a measure of co-funding will be made available by me to ensure we capitalise on this opportunity for our literary, cultural and business communities.
As I mentioned previously, designation has been a major achievement for Dublin. As the Minister no doubt understands, we could lose the designation also. I am worried that our literary product in Dublin is rather dispersed. If one comes to Dublin looking for a literary experience, one must go to different places for it. The Yeats exhibition in the National Library of Ireland has been very successful but there is an exhibition on James Joyce that is not on display because there is no place to display it. It should be on display permanently.
If one considers all our successful writers since the time of Swift, one will realise that there is really nowhere to experience their work. The Irish Writers Centre has been very successful but it is receiving no funding from the Department or the Arts Council. Funding for literature amounts to only 4% of the Arts Council's funding, despite the fact that the Indecon report states the multiplier from literature is quite considerable.
I ask the Minister to consider seriously setting up a group, perhaps the group that won the designation, to consider making available a building, be it a museum or writers' centre, that would at once celebrate the achievements of past writers and encourage contemporary writers.
While Newman House on St. Stephen's Green is an option, another option is a building that has become iconic for the wrong reasons, namely the Anglo Irish Bank building, which I hope will be closed soon. It would be an ideal location and its use as a writers' centre would be positive.
I appreciate what the Deputy is saying about the importance of having permanent exhibitions. The Yeats exhibition is a great success. It would be desirable to have a location for a permanent Joyce exhibition. We can investigate that.
One reason Dublin was designated was that its literature was not confined to a museum or one location and was a living part of the of the city. That so many people in Dublin read literature is of note. When Seamus Heaney brings out a new collection of poetry, it goes immediately to number one. That does not happen in other countries. Dublin has many book clubs and children enjoy reading. That is part of what we do. The One City, One Book idea is a case in point. Next year, Ghost Light by Joseph O’Connor will be chosen and this year A Picture of Dorian Gray was chosen. Designation was because literature, reading and writers are all over the city. I accept the Deputy’s point on showcasing our Nobel laureates and all our other famous writers. I will certainly pursue that idea.
Designation presents a great opportunity for Dublin to promote our many literary geniuses. I take the opportunity to congratulate Emma Donoghue. Although Emma Donoghue is not based in Dublin, I congratulate her as she did extremely well to be placed on the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize. That must be acknowledged.
The Minister stated the city's designation is being promoted on the Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland websites but when I looked at them I could not find a reference. Dublin Tourism has a very good reference to it. Perhaps I missed something. If not, it might be worth promoting it.
I did not say it was on the websites but that it was being promoted as part of tourism promotion. At various events and conferences, I and others have highlighted the fact that the City of Literature status is a means of attracting visitors. Dublin Tourism, which is part of the network of tourism agencies, is promoting the concept. I foresee great opportunities next year under Culture Ireland. Rather than just promoting Ireland through music, dance and the visual arts, we can include literature also.
Will the Minister consider my proposal to identify a specific building? I realise City of Literature designation involves a bigger concept than this but having a central location is very important. The Anglo Irish Bank building would be ideal for such an initiative. What are the Minister's views on this?
We can certainly discuss with the Director of the National Library of Ireland the possibility of having a more permanent Joyce exhibition in addition to the Yeats exhibition. It can also be discussed with the committee on which we are working.
8 Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Tourism; Culture and Sport her plans to recommend a review of the artists exemption tax; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36700/10]
The artists' exemption was introduced in 1969 to create an environment in which the arts could flourish. In 2007, a restriction was applied to the scheme which capped the relief at €250,000 per annum.
In 2009, the Commission on Taxation recommended the abolition of the exemption. As a result, the scheme was reviewed following which the Minister for Finance announced in last December's budget that, from the 2010 tax year, the restriction of reliefs applicable to the exemption would be changed by imposing a new entry level threshold to the restriction at adjusted income levels of €125,000, with the full restriction applying at €400,000. This change was effected in the Finance Act 2010.
On Second Stage of the Finance Bill 2010, the Minister for Finance announced the further review of the effectiveness of sectoral tax expenditures with the results feeding into the 2011 budget. This review required an assessment to be undertaken by Ministers into the effectiveness of tax expenditures within their sectors of responsibility that were examined by the Commission on Taxation. This review has been completed and was sent to the Minister for Finance earlier this year.
The artists' exemption scheme, which has been in place now for 40 years, marks Ireland out as unique in Europe in its support for its artists. The rationale behind the legislation was, inter alia, to create an environment in which the arts could flourish and to encourage Irish artists on modest incomes to remain here rather than go abroad to earn their living. The scheme has been of great benefit and provides encouragement for artists on modest incomes to practice their creative skills. In fact, most of those benefiting are on relatively low incomes. In 2007, 69% of those who benefited from the exemption had incomes of less than €20,000 per annum; 77% had an income of less than €30,000 and 82% had an income of less than €40,000. I have no plans to have any further review of the scheme carried out at this time.
I support the tax exemption scheme for artists because I believe it is important. We could perhaps examine how it is distributed. Perhaps, it could be distributed over a number of years because often an artist might earn a great deal of money in one year from, for example, a piece of sculpture, and may not earn anything for three or four more years. The Minister indicated there will be further changes to the scheme in the forthcoming budget. Does she know at what level the exemption will be capped?
I must have misinterpreted what the Minister said. As she pointed out, the majority of people who benefit from the artists' tax exemption earn below €50,000 per annum. Why then are we putting such a high cap of €125,000 on it?
I did not say the amount would be reviewed again this year. I said that tax expenditures generally were being reviewed by the Minister for Finance. I do not think he intends to review the artists' tax exemption.
The limit of €125,000 was set in last year's budget. As I stated, 82% of people who benefit from the tax exemption earn €40,000 per annum or less. The €125,000 limit was put in place to ensure people in the higher income bracket contribute to taxation. The number of people in this category is quite small. In 2006, 1,300 people had an income of less than €10,000. Some 50% of all artists earn less than that amount. Fewer than 200 people earned more than €125,000. Only the people in that bracket were affected. This was part of an overall policy to hit the higher income earner rather than the lower income earner.
I appreciate what the Deputy had to say in respect of an artist who might spend some time working on a particular piece and who might not do any work the following year. I am reluctant to suggest we change the scheme at all lest people think we would like to change it entirely.
I accept that.
We do not want to do that as this is a good, internationally recognised scheme. It is one of the areas in respect of which I would suggest it is best to let the hare sit.
There may be scope to review the eligibility of particular individuals. I accept this issue has been raised before. There are people who have availed of the artists' tax exemption who, in hindsight, should not have been eligible to avail of it.
I will not get into determining what is literature and what is not. Other issues that arose include whether if something is fixed, it attaches VAT attachment and so on. The tax exemption scheme is good and we are anxious that it would continue.
9 Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport her plans to conduct a national audit of arts and cultural facilities to guide future capital investment in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36691/10]
In 2008, my Department commenced an audit of sports facilities at local level in line with a commitment in the programme for Government. The audit was carried out with the assistance of local authorities and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. At the time it was decided to take the opportunity to gather information on publicly funded arts and community facilities in local authority areas. Guidelines were issued to the local authorities to assist them in carrying out the audit. The local authorities have since submitted their returns which contain records of arts facilities in each area. The returns received from local authorities are being collated into a database and are being cross-checked against the Department's arts and culture capital programme records.
When this work is completed, the Department will assess what additional necessary actions would be required to complete a full national audit of arts and cultural facilities. In the meantime, many local authorities are publishing the information they received during the course of the audits. Access to this information is available on some local authority websites.
Since 2004, the Department has spent €132 million in capital support for 120 arts centres, galleries, museums and theatres. It is fair to say that this six-year period has seen the single largest period of sustained investment in arts infrastructure in the history of the State. In that time venues from the award winning Wexford Festival Opera to the Model Niland in Sligo, and from the Gate and the Abbey in Dublin to the Druid in Galway have received investment. Truly, as we face into the second decade of the 21st century, we have a world class arts infrastructure, and it is not all Dublin based. There is much more to achieve and the primary challenge I face now is ensuring an adequacy of public resources to maintain activity levels at these wonderful venues. In 2009 alone, capital support was provided to 48 venues.
Again, I am not proposing there should be any more major capital investment at this time. The main issue is, the need to ensure the proper services and activities are provided. It has been pointed out to me that many art centres and festivals do not have computerised box offices or marketing systems. This is an area in which there could be investment. I do believe we need any more buildings as we have more than enough of them. Many of the buildings we have are excellent and are a great credit to us as a country. The question that arises and which arose in previous discussions is how the people in the arts and culture are to be supported and sustained in their jobs.
I do not understand the reason it takes so long to collate information to provide an audit of facilities. The Minister might recall the same problem arose with portakabins in schools. Why does it take so long to put this information together?
I can understand why it would take so long to collate information in regard to schools because there are 4,000 of them. I do not understand, however, why it took the council so long to collate information on art and culture facilities of which there are only 33. From an arts point of view, we will not have a complete picture because the council will deal only with local authority funded facilities. There are a large number of private ventures. We have information on the national cultural institutions. The audit will not include facilities such as private galleries which contribute to the arts. I accept the argument that the key issue now is to ensure these facilities can function and can be used to put on shows, attract audiences and improve participation. This is my major consideration leading into the budget discussions.
10 Deputy Brian Hayes asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport if a feasibility study for the development of the Abbey Theatre has been completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36759/10]
27 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport the progress on the redevelopment of the Abbey Theatre; the current status of the detailed assessment of the feasibility of the General Post Office as the location of the Abbey Theatre; when she expects to publish the assessment of the feasibility of the General Post Office as the location of the Abbey Theatre; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36698/10]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 27 together.
The renewed programme for Government commits us to a detailed assessment of the GPO complex in the context of locating the Abbey Theatre there in time for the centenary of the 1916 Rising. The development of a new national theatre project is a not a simple undertaking. There is a matrix of technical, procedural and legal factors to address in making progress on it. Trying to build a national theatre at the GPO, with all of the history that embraces that building, adds to the complexity and also needs particular sensibilities to history, tradition and the iconography of the GPO.
A feasibility group of the primary stakeholders has been set up. Its membership includes representatives from my Department, the Office of Public Works, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, An Post and the Abbey Theatre. The group has made considerable progress in assessing the GPO complex to ascertain whether it is a feasible location for the redeveloped national theatre. Among the main considerations assessed are the capacity of the GPO to accommodate the brief agreed for the Abbey Theatre; the integration of theatre infrastructure into the street and skyscape; the feasibility from a planning perspective of any redevelopment proposal; the cost of the construction, the nature of the title to the site and the terms and conditions of leases, indentures, mortgages, liens, etc., thereon; and the costs of lease terminations and other commercial and corporate issues for An Post.
A draft report is nearing completion. That draft report will then be circulated to the members of the feasibility group for final input. I anticipate it will be a number of weeks before this process is completed and the final report is ready for submission to me and to the Government.
I remind Deputy Hanafin that she is the fourth Minister to examine this matter. Consideration was previously given to it by her predecessors, Síle de Valera, Deputy O'Donoghue and Martin Cullen.
Seamus Brennan also gave consideration to it.
That is correct.
I am probably the fifth Minister to be involved with the project.
Various sites were mentioned in connection with the possible relocation of the Abbey, including Grand Canal Dock, George's Dock, the Carlton Hotel, Coláiste Mhuire on Parnell St., Hawkins House, etc. It was also suggested that the existing theatre could be refurbished and extended by means of the purchase of some of the surrounding buildings. Relocating the Abbey to the GPO is the latest suggestion. I appeal to the Minister to, if nothing else, reach a decision on whether the theatre should be relocated. It is important that this should be done because the speculation that is taking place is not helping anybody. Is the Minister in a position to provide a timeframe with regard to when the feasibility study is likely to be completed? How much money has been spent on the study to date?
The difficulty with this project is that it does not merely involve a simple question as to whether it is feasible to relocate the Abbey Theatre to the GPO building. If we receive a report which indicates that it is feasible to do so, the next question we must contemplate is whether we wish to proceed. I would welcome the views of other Members in respect of that matter. We want to find the best possible location for the Abbey Theatre. This must be a city centre location and, therefore, the GPO is an option. On the other hand, the GPO was a post office in 1916 and there is a great deal to be said for retaining it as such for the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 2016.
On culture night I was struck by the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who visited the GPO to view the historical exhibits. There is a real sense of the place of that building in the history of the nation and I do not want anything to subtract from that. I am not stating that relocating the Abbey Theatre to the GPO would do so but we must certainly consider that aspect of the matter. There are historical, political and cultural elements which must be taken into account and these must be placed over and above the results of a study which might indicate that the theatre will fit in the GPO. Until I know whether it will fit and until I am fully briefed on all of the planning and legal issues involved, it will not be possible to make a decision. I would genuinely like to hear, either on a confidential basis or otherwise, the views of other Members in respect of where they believe the theatre should be located. This matter is not about me or my Department — it relates to one of the most iconic and significant buildings in the country.
There is a serious element of putting the cart before the horse in respect of this matter. Whoever decided to proceed with the feasibility study should first have considered whether we want the theatre to be relocated to the GPO. If a decision had been taken that the relocation should proceed, then we could have moved forward with the feasibility study. If we had decided not to relocate the theatre to the GPO, then we could have proceeded to reconsider the position vis-à-vis the docklands site. The cart has very definitely been placed before the horse.
There is no point in asking Members for their thoughts. We are well down the road with regard to the feasibility study. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Mansergh, when commenting on a report relating to a relocation to the docklands, provided a figure of €219,000 in respect of the work that had been already carried out. What is going to be the final cost of the current feasibility study?
Let us be under no illusions. Relocating the Abbey Theatre would cost a significant amount of money. However, if this is the correct thing to do — obviously any move would have to be considered in the context of the state of the public finances — then we should proceed. I am of the view that this issue is much larger than mere planning or logistics considerations. We cannot consider the big question until we know whether a relocation to the GPO would be possible. There would be no point in engaging in a political, cultural or historical debate in respect of the future of the GPO and deciding the relocation of the Abbey Theatre there should proceed, only to discover that such a relocation would not be possible.
I accept that the expenditure of money is a significant issue at present. However, it is worth spending money in order to establish what the future might hold for the Abbey Theatre. The closer we come to 2016, the more conscious people are becoming not only of our future but also of our past. People want to preserve the best parts of our history. One of the best ways of reminding people — in a physical sense and not just in the context of the ideals of those who rose up in 1916 — of our past is to highlight the part played in it by the GPO.
There are those who will state that we should implement the ideals espoused in the 1916 Proclamation and we can, of course, do so. However, it must be noted that the GPO is a symbol of idealism and republicanism and we do not want to do anything which would detract from this. Having said that, the relocation of the Abbey Theatre to the GPO might contribute to rather than subtract from the symbolism relating to the site.
Will the Minister indicate the cost of the feasibility study to date? Is she in a position to indicate the amount of money that has been spent on feasibility studies since her predecessor, Síle de Valera, first examined the possibility of relocating the theatre to the Grand Canal Dock area?
A large range of artefacts and exhibits are currently stored — they are not on show — in Collins Barracks. I am sure these could be exhibited in the GPO. It would be interesting to discover whether it would be possible to put on such an exhibition if the Abbey Theatre were relocated to the building. I ask the Minister to give consideration to this matter.
The GPO is an iconic building. There are two iconic figures in this country who appear to have different views on the relocation of the Abbey Theatre. The first is Senator Norris, who wants the theatre to be relocated to the GPO, and the second is the great Ulick O'Connor, who is very much opposed to moving it from its current location. Which of these individuals is influencing the Minister's thinking at this stage?
It would ill become me to come between Ulick O'Connor and Senator Norris. To date, €393,509.62 has been paid out by the Department in respect of the design, engineering, architectural, financial and legal fees relating to the new Abbey Theatre project. The majority of this expenditure is project as opposed to site specific. Irrespective of what development takes place in respect of the Abbey — and regardless of where it occurs — much of the money relating to the study can be carried on and will not be lost.
What is the current position with regard to the feasibility study? When will it be completed? We must continue with the study and we cannot just drop it now. Meetings relating to this matter have been taking place over many years. In such circumstances, the study must be almost complete. I do not know whether we should have parallel debates on this issue. I take on board many of the Minister's points in respect of the historical and cultural significance of the GPO. The latter are important considerations and there are many shades of opinion in respect of them. What will happen, however, if we engage in a debate on whether the theatre should be relocated to the GPO and reach the conclusion that we should not proceed with this option? Will the feasibility study be dropped? Will we state that even though it is 75% complete, it should be abandoned because it is a waste of time and money? What is happening is illogical.
Deputy Upton almost contradicted herself. We are awaiting the results of the feasibility study because we want to discover whether the relocation might be possible. There are issues which arise in the context of size and scale. There is also the fact that approximately 25 retail units are located in the GPO and these all have commercial leases. All of these issues would require to be resolved. In the knowledge that such a resolution might be possible, it then would be possible to engage in a political, social, cultural and historical debate in respect of the matter. I anticipate that the feasibility study will be completed and sent to me shortly.
11 Deputy James Reilly asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport if, in view of the campaign carried out by the National Campaign for the Arts in promoting a positive message about the role of the arts as an agent of recovery, and the meeting it undertook with 75 members of the Oireachtas up to Friday 17 September 2010, her plans to capitalise on this momentum and ensure that it is reflected in the December budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36790/10]
16 Deputy Jan O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport the steps she is taking to preserve funding in the crucial area of arts and culture in the forthcoming budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36696/10]
I propose to take Question Nos. 11 and 16 together.
I wish to reassure Deputies that the Government appreciates the importance of the arts, culture and creative industries to Irish society and to our economy. We are conscious not only of the role of the sector in providing vital opportunities for self-expression and participation but also of the economic potential of the arts and creative industries. We are determined to do our best to provide the conditions in which creative expression can flourish and are committed to enhancing access to the arts for people of all ages and income levels. My policy on the arts, culture and film sectors reflects Government policy in this area as set out in the programme for Government. This policy is to promote and strengthen the arts in all its forms, increase access to and participation in the arts, make the arts an integral and valued part of our national life and maximise the potential for cultural tourism.
I am committed to supporting the crucial constituent sectors of arts and culture and the Government will continue to fund those sectors within limited available financial resources. Decisions regarding funding, whether within my Department's Vote or on the part of other relevant Departments will, however, have to be taken in the context of the ongoing Estimates and budget preparation process and in the light of the target aggregate Exchequer savings to be achieved for 2011. I would like to acknowledge the concerns raised by the recent campaign for the arts and to affirm my commitment to maximising the position and status of the arts in society.
Unusually for protestors, I have to commend those who participated in the public display of arts activities on 17 September last. This was undertaken by the National Campaign for the Arts and even included many Members of this House. The campaign helped to highlight the value, importance, contribution and community reach of the arts not only to the economy and to our social life but also to raising the national spirit. The arts help to define what we are, both as a community and on the world stage. I intend to do everything in my power to build on the passion displayed by the campaign and to ensure the continued vitality of this sector.
I reiterate that the arts are important from both an economic and a social point of view and I will ensure that this importance is highlighted in the decisions which must be taken to determine the 2011 allocation for arts and culture. As Minister, I will put forward the strongest possible case that I can for the sector and advocate continuing State support for it.
I agree that the campaign was very successful, and participants met 83 Members, with approximately 11,000 e-mails sent out to support the campaign. The first element of the campaign looked to retain Arts Council funding at current levels. The Minister has already indicated she cannot give any guarantees in that respect but I am sure she will make a really strong case for the retention of the funding. I remember when the funding was cut by €5 million in 2002, the process was upset and it took the Arts Council and related organisations a long time to recover from that.
I want to bring in a few Deputies as we are up against time.
An expert was brought over from England who proved conclusively that there is an economic multiplier with investing in the arts. Other countries which have gone through tough times like us have invested in the arts and it has proven to be very beneficial.
I accept all the arguments made by the group. The campaign was designed not just to protect the budget but also to inform public opinion and unite all the arts groups. They had not done this in the past but they were challenged to do so by the McCarthy report last year, and this has been a benefit both to the groups and everybody else. Instead of seeing each other as competitors, the groups saw themselves as complementary to each other, with a great service done to themselves and society in general as a result. The other factor which benefited their campaign significantly was the Farmleigh process. A global network focused on culture and its importance to the economy has raised the arts to a new level.
I agree with the Minister's comments on the protection of the arts and Deputy Deenihan's contribution. It is important in a cultural way, and the people engaged in the arts do so because they love it rather than it being a job. They want to do it and beyond almost any other profession they have a total commitment to the sector. As I mentioned when discussing the arts exemption, many of these people are poorly paid. Another significant point is the number who are employed in the area and the spin-off to the economy. I urge that the money be protected in the budget. It is a soft target and I am concerned that it might suffer as a result.
I echo the comments of the two previous speakers. I know the Minister is going to Ballaghaderreen tomorrow morning to talk about the creative economy. In light of the fact that research from the Western Development Commission has shown that 4,475 businesses are in the creative economy in the western region, employing 11,000 people, as well as the impact of the Farmleigh process and the Your Country, Your Call competition, will the Minister carry out an economic assessment of the impact of the arts on the economy? It would support the argument to ring-fence the funding.
We do not need to carry out such an assessment as we recognise that approximately 50,000 people are employed in the sector, either directly or indirectly. It is about the economy and the contribution to society. I will certainly be making that case for the budget. I am going to Ballaghaderreen in the morning to speak about culture, the European Market for Tourism at lunch and the GAA All-Stars tomorrow night. It is a great job.
That is before going to Wexford.
Yes.
I hope the Minister does not go on a solo run.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
