Peadar Tóibín
Question:6. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if she will be taking a role in the development of the new national spatial strategy. [31135/16]
Other Questions
National Spatial Strategy
This State is in a state of spatial crisis. Services are being closed down on the western side of our country and rebuilt on the eastern seaboard. There is an overconcentration of economic activity and limited resources in a small space on the east coast, which is depopulating much of the west coast and causing bottlenecks in infrastructure on the east coast. What will the Minister do, through the spatial strategy, to address this issue?
The development of a new national planning framework, NPF, is being led by my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. A roadmap, approved by Government and published in December 2015, outlines the arrangements for the preparation of the NPF, which includes the establishment of a dedicated work team in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, whose work will be overseen by a high-level cross-departmental steering group, supported by appropriate public consultation and stakeholder engagement arrangements. I understand that it is the Minister's intention that effective consultation will ensure the NPF is built from the ground up, while at the same time taking account of strategic realities at national level.
As Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, I welcome this important initiative and I look forward to contributing to it, including by way of my Department's input as a member of the NPF cross-departmental steering group.
As a contributor to the development of a new NPF, my Department has many shared and complementary objectives that will be considered during the process as part of the whole-of-government approach being adopted.
Indeed, a number of high level initiatives are currently underway within my Department which are relevant to the development of the NPF and will provide significant cross-over potential. These include the development of programmes under my Department's new regional and rural development brief, the National Landscape Strategy for Ireland 2015-2025, my Department's built and natural heritage fiscal and capital investment programmes, the ongoing implementation of the Government policy on architecture and the proposed development of a new national heritage plan.
Finally, my understanding is that rural Ireland will be addressed as part of a NPF issues and options paper, which will include a section entitled "A place-based strategy for rural Ireland".
I suppose when this Department was created there was a hope that it would be for real, that regional development and rural affairs would be taken seriously by this Department. It is clear this Department is a hollow husk, that in the end of the day the Department is almost an elaborate press statement to pretend to the people that the Government is doing something on this issue.
For example, the national broadband plan to provide broadband to rural areas for regional development was won by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, in the interdepartmental battles. I also have a problem with the fact that in some parts of the west there are dozens of schools which have the same number of junior infants joining them at the start of the year as one school would have in the greater Dublin area meaning that schools are being closed in the west and rebuilt in the east at a cost to the State. For example, there was a bad accident on the M50 this morning at 8.30 a.m. - I hope everybody involved is okay. Six or seven miles into County Meath, there were commuters stuck in major traffic jams two hours later such is the crisis of infrastructural deficit on the east coast while much of the west is going fallow. A number of local authorities and a number of leadership organisations have told me that they have heard nothing about the national spatial plan. There is no ground-up grassroots element involved.
I understand. I am from rural Ireland, the same as Deputy Tóibín, as are the Ministers of State, Deputies Kyne and Ring. We are committed to rural Ireland and I can assure Deputy Tóibín of that. Rural Ireland will be addressed as part of an issues and option paper, which will include a section entitled, "A place-based strategy for rural Ireland".
This comes back to the need for joined-up thinking and cross-Government co-operation on rural Ireland. In this regard, I will be bringing forward the action plan for rural development later this year. The action plan will cover the three-year period 2016 to 2019 and will be structured around the following themes: supporting sustainable communities, creating and sustaining enterprise and employment, fostering culture and creativity in rural Ireland, building on rural tourism and recreational opportunities and improving rural infrastructure and connectivity. The action plan will act as an overarching structure for the implementation of Government initiatives which have the potential to benefit rural Ireland.
My heart goes out to the Minister to a certain extent. If Deputy Humphreys does not have the budget to deal with these issues, unfortunately, all the joined-up thinking in the world is not worth a damn.
The level of capital investment in this State is one of the lowest anywhere in Europe. With regards to the €6 billion that is going on roads between 2016 and 2021, 75% of that is going on maintenance only. Roads that are needed right across the west are just not going to be built. As far as the €3.6 billion earmarked for public transport is concerned, more than half of that will go on the extension of the DART railway. For example, the residents of Navan in County Meath will not see the railway being brought from Pace out to Navan or different railways being built around the country.
I ask the Minister to think seriously about disruptive investment. We have a particular trend happening which has been facilitated by a directionless spatial plan. To fix that, the Minister needs to ensure the spatial plan comes out by the end of the year and that it has the necessary funds to build the infrastructure so the people will stay in the western seaboard and others will go and join them.
I encourage the Minister to include in her contribution on the national planning framework a look at land use strategy. In that regard, the potential exists to meet the objectives the Minister set in terms of employment and sustainable communities, to look at radical proposals taking both Coillte lands and Bord na Móna lands at scale and managing them in a different way, separating the parks and wildlife functions within her Department so that we massively extend the definition of parks and how we use land in that way. It is a different role to the wildlife regulatory function. By taking such radical steps in terms of how we use land, we can develop tourism, food, energy and other industries in rural Ireland. We need that sort of radical land use change as part of this planning framework.
To answer Deputy Tóibín's question, we have allocated funding within our budget to rural Ireland. We have a €12 million town and village enhancement programme. I am getting very positive feedback from local authorities and from individuals from communities right across the country. We launched €10 million in funding this year and they are working extremely hard to put together good applications to get funding to support projects that will make a difference in their rural communities. Deputy Tóibín will be aware, as I am, that there is nothing better than communities and those at local level making decisions that can impact beneficially on their area.
In relation to Deputy Eamon Ryan's question, there is an increasing recognition that the protection and presentation of our natural heritage is necessary for continued economic expansion, regional and rural development as well as for increasing quality of life.
I welcome the focus on the role of our natural resources and cultural assets proposed by the outline of a national planning framework, in particular, the proposed linkages to policies designed to protect and promote our built and natural heritage. Indeed, I accept what Deputy Eamon Ryan is saying, that we need to look at our landscape, and at our bogs. The bogs are a tremendous asset that is unique to this country. It is about developing those assets in a positive way.
Regional Development Initiatives
Bernard Durkan
Question:7. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the extent to which she has identified a deficiency in services in urban and rural areas throughout the country with particular reference to the need to ensure the availability of modern technology, banking, post offices, schools and other services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31141/16]
The next question is in the name of this Deputy, who, unfortunately, cannot raise any supplementaries. The Deputy would be happy, unless somebody else wants to raise a question on it, to take a reply.
This is new politics at its best.
A Programme for a Partnership Government identifies a range of local services which are important to the sustainability of rural areas in particular. The programme contains a series of commitments relating to the protection of these services, including the provision of next-generation broadband coverage, addressing the renewal of the post office network, supporting local jobseekers and the provision of other services in areas such as education, health and security. These services fall under the remit of a number of Departments and agencies.
From my own perspective, I am progressing the programme for Government commitment to address the renewal of the post office network. I have established a post office hub working group which is considering potential models under which the post offices could offer additional services, especially in rural areas. My officials are also examining the potential for the post offices to deliver services, such as motor tax payments and a basic payment account.
The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has established a national taskforce on mobile phone and broadband access with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, to identify practical measures which can be taken in the short term to improve broadband and mobile phone reception in rural areas. Two regional broadband action groups, involving all of the local authorities in the country, have also been established to accelerate the roll-out of the broadband network and ensure that there are no local barriers to the deployment when contracts under the national broadband plan are awarded in 2017.
My Department is currently developing an action plan for rural development which will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives across Government which have the potential to benefit rural Ireland. The implementation of these initiatives will contribute significantly to the protection and enhancement of local services and will help generate increased economic activity in rural Ireland. The action plan will be published by the end of the year.
I will do my best to see if I can represent the Acting Chairman here. With regard to broadband, I have major concerns with the Government's broadband plan. We know from conversations we have had with the Minister previously that it is likely the due date for broadband right across the State will be broken. There is no Government confirmation that this due date will be achieved. In five or six years time, there will still be sectors of Irish society and enterprise that will be cut off from what is the road network of modern society. We also know there is a danger because of the fact that there are two contracts on the island, that we could have one contract with a certain speed and capacity level and another contract with a different speed and content level. That means villages a distance of five or six miles apart could be operating on two different levels.
Regarding the post office sector, I spoke to a postmaster recently, based in a medium-sized town which is by no means a village, and he was of the view that transactions were collapsing within post offices around the country, especially as a result of fewer people drawing social welfare. That is obviously a good thing, but the essential point is that his wages are derived on the basis of transactions and those transactions were not there for him. Also, the contracts between the State and post offices were not facilitating viability. Is it the Government's plan to close further post offices? My understanding is that a number of post offices will close in the future.
With regard to broadband, as the Deputy is aware, our Department is dealing with the local authorities to make sure that when the contracts are awarded, there will be no hold-ups and the local authorities will have their ground work done. When people are appointed to deal with the contracts, we will be there and the local authorities will deal with the land issues and any other issues that arise. The Minister, Deputy Naughten's Department will deal with the licences and we will do our bit. The local authorities have all been written to and they have all responded. What we need to do now is to make sure that we can roll this out as quickly as possible.
Regarding rural post offices, we have a group that I am chairing and another group, the Post Office Network Business Development Group, that Bobby Kerr is chairing. He is examining ways and means to see what we can do to give new services to post offices. I am engaged with the Irish postmasters' association in examining ways and means to see what we can do to save as many post offices as possible. The Deputy is correct that there are a number of categories of post offices, including big post offices, small post offices and rural post offices. I am working with those people to explore, for example, the possibility of having mobile post offices, community post offices and a combination of both to try to keep a service in an area. Bobby Kerr intends to have his group's report compiled in the next number of weeks. I will have my report compiled and we will then go to Government to see what we can do to support and assist rural post offices to the best of our ability.
The Minister of State studiously avoided answering my question about the Government's plan to close further post offices in the next number of years. It does plan to close a number of post offices in rural areas in the next number of years.
Unfortunately, it is now too late to transfer the motor tax service to the post offices. If people were to go to a county council office to pay their motor tax, they would probably see weeds growing along the ground. Most people are dealing with their motor tax online. The transfer of driver licence renewal business to the post offices would have provided an opportunity to give viability back to post offices. That business was given to a private company, as such.
I understand that Bobby Kerr's report has been published. What elements of it have been implemented to date? The two questions to which I would love answers are how many offices will the Minister close in the future and what elements of that report have been implemented?
I want to make it clear to the Deputy that I will not be closing any post offices. I do not have the authority or the power-----
The Government does.
The Government does not have it either. An Post runs the postal services. With regard to a number of post offices, people have given notice that they no longer want to be postmasters. There is nothing we can do about it if there are no people available to take up that service. An Post will make those decisions. There is a consultation process which will involve it determining if a post office is viable, but somebody has to take on the business of that post office.
We are doing the direct opposite to what the Deputy has said. We are trying to do something to save post offices by giving them new services, such as banking, to help bring them into the modern era and allow them to compete with the banks and the credit unions. We will try to save as many post offices as possible but I want to put on the record that I will not be closing any post office. That is not a decision for me or the Government. That will be a matter for An Post and the postmasters or postmistresses if they believe they are not in a position to continue on in their business. We are doing everything in our power to try to save post offices. I intend to bring a package to Government between now and the end of the year with the intention of trying to save as many post offices as possible, but not every post office is viable. Many people complain about the closure of post offices. I have attended public meetings where people said they do not want closures of post offices, but they are the very people who do not use their local post office. If people want them, they will have to use them. If they want to keep them, they will have to support their local post offices. I want as many post offices as possible to be maintained and retained in rural Ireland.
We will proceed to Question No. 8 in the name of Deputy Mick Barry.
Deputy Boyd Barrett would not know very much about rural post offices.
Excuse me, we have little village post offices.
The Deputy was too privileged, so he would not know about them.
I call Deputy Mick Barry.
We have a little village post office in Dún Laoghaire as well.
The Deputy would not know anything about rural Ireland.
Go away out of that. The Minister of State is a spoofer.
Is Deputy Boyd Barrett giving way to his colleague?
Arts Funding
Mick Barry
Question:8. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if the Government is committed to increasing the budget for the arts to at least the European Union average of 0.6% of gross domestic product; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31142/16]
Deputy Humphreys is the Minister with responsibility for the arts and she is the Minister who has cut the arts budget in terms of €188.5 million last year and €158.3 million last week, which is a cut of 16%. How does she account for herself? Let us not have any excuses about the 1916 centenary celebrations. The budget was cut, this Minister cut it and I ask her to account for it.
The Deputy will be glad to hear that in budget 2017, I secured a series of funding increases across the arts and cultural bodies under my remit. These include an extra €5 million for the Arts Council, which is an 8% increase; €2 million extra for the film board; an extra €1 million for Culture Ireland; a significant additional allocation of €3.5 million for the national cultural institutions; and a new funding stream of €5 million for the implementation of a Culture 2025-Ireland 2016 legacy programme, details of which I will be announcing shortly.
These increases will have a positive and distinct impact on arts provision around the country. I am particularly pleased that I have retained the majority of the once-off current funding provided in 2016 for commemorations for investment in arts and culture and that these amounts are now included in my Department’s baseline figures.
I understand that the source of the reference to 0.6% of GDP in the Deputy's question is a Council of Europe research project and that many European countries, including ten EU member states, are not included in the data. I understand also that the data are not standardised and are not comparable across countries. For example, local authority expenditure on the arts, the artists’ exemption tax relief, expenditure on public service broadcasting and the Irish language are not included in the figures for Ireland but comparable figures are included in the data for some other countries.
I have previously stated that further research on this issue is warranted and my Department is considering the matter at present. The issue of a definition of culture and of capturing public expenditure on culture is an element of the draft Culture 2025 framework policy, which was forwarded to the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for input in July last.
I am blinded by the spin.
There is no spin.
I am absolutely blinded by the spin. Let us have a look at it. The Minister secured an extra €5 million for the Arts Council. Is she aware the Arts Council received €83 million in 2007 but this year is receiving €65 million, a cut of more than 20%? Is she aware it is only now at the level it was six years ago in 2011? She said the majority of the 1916 money had been retained. That is not correct. There was €48 million in that regard and only €18 million of it - only slightly more than a third - was retained. That is misinformation. The National Campaign for the Arts asked that all that money be retained for the arts sector. The Minister completely failed to deliver on that. I will make a point on the statistics in a moment.
I thank the Deputy. I want to be very clear because these figures can become confusing. There was almost €49 million in once-off funding allocated to my Department for the Ireland 2016 centenary programme this year. It was a once-in-a-century event. The majority of that funding, €31 million, was spent on major capital projects such as the GPO visitors centre, which is a fine centre that I hope the Deputy gets a chance to visit; Richmond Barracks; and the Kevin Barry rooms in the National Concert Hall. They are all finished now. They are tremendous legacy projects of 2016. They are now complete and therefore that capital funding is not included in next year's budget because they are finished. We do not have to do them again.
As I said, it is spin.
The remainder of the commemoration funding, €18 million, was in current funding to fund initiatives such as the major parade on Easter Sunday and events across the country. I have retained the vast majority of that funding for 2017 and I am reinvesting it back into the Arts Council, the Irish Film Board and cultural institutions. I gave the Deputy a breakdown earlier.
Jo Mangan from the National Campaign for the Arts said, "There is strong disappointment coming from members" with regard to the budget. She said that her members' responses on social media were despair, anger and disbelief. That contrasts with the self-satisfied tone that emanates from the Minister in the House today. I am glad the Minister has accepted that the point I made about the 1916 money is correct. By her own mouth, the Minister has admitted in the House that there was €49 million last year and she secured €18 million of the €49 million.
Most of them have been opened.
They are finished. They are all finished.
It is spin. It is not the majority of the money; it is a tiny minority.
The Deputy, without interruption.
By the Minister's own comments-----
The Deputy is out of time.
The Minister is condemned by her own comments. The Minister hides behind the fact that her Department has not yet produced a system for calculating the amount of GDP spent on the arts. The European average is 0.6% but it is 0.1% here. If the Minister wants to challenge that figure, she should produce statistics. We are waiting. When will we get them?
The Deputy will be glad to hear that under Culture 2025 it is something we have highlighted. I accept we need to do some work on the statistics.
The Minister does, indeed.
It is something that is ongoing. We will do it because it is important we know how much funding is needed. I am delighted I was able to increase the funding to the arts. Guess what? The Arts Council, the Irish Film Board and Culture Ireland were also delighted. They are all happy they got an increase. I would love to give them more but we have managed to do very well this year. Will the Deputy please acknowledge it is an increase? He should remember where we were in 2008. Things have improved a lot. We have come through an economic crisis and there have been cuts across the board. I am very pleased and I want to build on the increases I got this year. We can see the huge benefit there is in investing in the arts.
Arts Funding
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:9. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if she will restore the budget for the arts for 2017 to the level agreed for 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31153/16]
I will continue on the same theme. There were many retrograde aspects to the austerity cuts that began in 2008. They were begun by Fianna Fáil when it started to cut the arts budget. It was cut by €30 million. If ever there was a misguided set of cuts it was in this area. The point of our questions and the disappointment expressed by the arts community about this budget is that there is no recognition that we need, at the very minimum, the full restoration of the cuts that were imposed and to move towards a reasonable level of overall arts expenditure.
I am glad to report, as in my reply to Deputy Barry, that I have retained the majority of the €18 million current funding which was provided for the 2016 commemorations for reallocation to arts and cultural purposes within my Department’s Vote. It will, therefore, become part of the baseline figures for my Department, meaning it will be carried forward into future years. As I previously outlined, budget 2017 will include an additional €5 million for the Arts Council, an 8% increase in its annual budget; increased funding for all the national cultural institutions; an increase of €2 million for the Irish Film Board and €1 million for Culture Ireland; and an additional €1 million for the Heritage Council. I have also secured a new funding stream of €5 million for the implementation of a Culture 2025-Ireland 2016 legacy programme, which will allow me to build on the positive legacy of the Ireland 2016 commemorations. I will be announcing details of this new initiative shortly.
All of this represents real and substantial funding increases across the arts and cultural area and has been welcomed across the sector. It also reaffirms the commitment of the Government to increase funding for the arts progressively as the economy improves, as set out in A Programme for a Partnership Government.
It should be noted that the majority of the €49 million allocation to my Department for this year’s Ireland 2016 centenary programme was capital funding that went towards a series of permanent reminder projects, including the witness history visitor centre at the GPO, the refurbishment of Richmond Barracks and the Kevin Barry rooms at the National Concert Hall. As a result of the completion of the various permanent reminder projects, the capital funding provided for them will not be required in 2017. The projects will continue to be a positive and lasting legacy for the people of Ireland.
Poverty of vision was a fairly apt description of the budget as a whole. It was just scraps here and there. Nowhere is that phrase more apt than in the area of arts, which is about vision. It is true there was a small increase in the allocations for certain agencies and institutions over and above last year. That has been welcomed by those institutions. We had a lengthy debate in here. The Minister knows that the National Campaign for the Arts has asked for much more than that. It asked specifically that the €50 million - not €18 million - that was provided on a once-off basis be retained in full to begin to move us even in a small way in the direction of European average levels of spending in the area of arts. We have a pitifully low level in a country whose revolutionary tradition was infused with the vision of artists who would turn in their graves if they thought the celebration of that cultural tradition was a once-off event. It should be about seriously ramping up the investment in our artists, not just in some institutions but in the artists and the arts generally.
I thank the Deputy. I will be clear. The investment in our artists, which is the most important thing, is €18 million in current expenditure.
That investment will go into a number of different areas. The Arts Council will get an extra €5 million. People are getting confused between capital and current expenditure. The point is that we have built those projects. They are completed, which is good news. There is also other good news. There is a €3 million capital investment programme for arts centres throughout the country. The applications have come to my Department and they will be assessed shortly, so I will be able to distribute funding for capital projects across the country. The point is that there is €18 million available, which certainly is not scraps in my book. It is a lot of money and I am glad we have it for the arts and culture sector.
The vast majority of artists in this country live in absolute poverty. Let us start with that reality. Garry Hynes put it well when she said:
I hate that the arts are so underfunded ... How proud we are of our artists but we're not proud enough to make the lives of the people who work in the industry better.
That is the reality. This level of funding simply will not impact on that in any significant way. To fail to acknowledge that the overall level of funding is still well short of what it was in 2008, when the arts were wrongly assaulted for an economic crisis they did not cause, shows a complete poverty of vision. That is my point. The minimum ask is that the entire €50 million, not a portion of it, should be retained. That would not even bring us to 0.6% from the abysmal 0.1%. It is retrograde. I have not even mentioned the 9% cut for the Irish language, which is unbelievably retrograde. It is a philistine failure to recognise the importance of this sector.
Garry Hynes runs the very successful Druid Theatre Company in Galway. I do not know when that comment was made but I am sure she, like other organisations, will welcome the increase. I have been very clear that as the economy continues to improve I wish to see more money invested in the arts. I have achieved that since 2014. Every year has seen an increase in investment in the arts. It is my view that 2016 has been a wonderful year. I repeat that €18 million is going directly to the arts and culture budget in my Department. The remainder was for capital projects and those projects are finished. I do not have to do them again.
The Minister could not keep the €50 million.
Capital money is for building. It is for bricks on mortar.
I can provide the Minister with a few arts capital projects.
Arts in Education Charter
Peadar Tóibín
Question:10. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the steps her Department will take to remove barriers to cultural activity for young persons in view of an ESRI and Arts Council report launched recently which states that families of young children with disabilities are highly engaged in cultural activities but that there are barriers to participation at ages nine to 13, with fewer children with special needs participating in structured cultural activities. [31136/16]
I presume that when organisations are starving they are usually pleased to see a few extra crumbs from the table. With regard to this question, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, recently published a document concerning the arts and the cultural participation of children and young people. It highlighted the benefits children get from cultural engagements, including confidence in learning and expression and better coping skills with studies. However, it also highlighted that a number of sectors of Irish society are not getting those benefits. How do we equality proof access to the arts for everybody in society?
The programme for a partnership Government commits to the implementation of the arts in education charter. This is a partnership between my Department, the Department of Education and Skills and the Arts Council.
Under the Arts Act 2003, primary responsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels throughout the country is devolved to the Arts Council, which is the main channel of State current expenditure on the arts. The council's ten year strategy, Making Great Art Work, places specific emphasis on the need to plan and provide for children and young people. The strategy also commits to working to achieve full implementation of the arts in education charter. The council also contributes funding to a number of organisations to assist in the delivery of arts in education projects in schools.
I welcome this joint landmark Arts Council and ESRI study and its findings that Irish children who participate in artistic and cultural activities cope better with schoolwork and have more positive attitudes towards school later on than those who are less engaged. Of particular interest is the identified difference in participation rates across communities and the fact that families of young children with disabilities are highly engaged in cultural activities. As Minister, I am firmly committed to continuing the work of the ongoing partnership between the Department of Education and Skills, my Department and the Arts Council, in line with the arts in education charter.
I am pleased, therefore, that in the 2017 budget I have secured an additional €5 million for the Arts Council, an 8% increase in its annual budget. This additional funding will allow the council to continue to enhance support to artists and arts organisations around the country on both a small and large scale, including its very valuable work in progressing arts in education initiatives and ongoing research, as referred to by the Deputy.
The Minister and I agree on the fact that there are major benefits for young children from access to the arts in that sphere of their lives. The report indicates that children from working-class backgrounds have less access to the arts and those benefits. Children with disabilities, especially in their younger years, have good access to the arts, but when they reach nine to 13 years of age that falls off considerably, those benefits recede as far as they are concerned. We also know that children with disabilities from working class backgrounds fare worse with regard to access. Children with disabilities from working class areas who do not live in the cities are at the bottom of the pile in terms of access. In many respects, they comprise a section of our society that is being denied these benefits. Why does the Minister not lock the spending of money in the arts to equality proofing? Why should it not be the case that one of the key performance indicators for every euro spent is that every section of Irish society gets a benefit?
I agree that there are huge benefits for children who are exposed to the arts. My Department supports Music Network by way of the music capital scheme, whereby instruments can be bought for children. Funding of €210,000 was provided under the scheme in 2016. In many cases, young people and groups might not have the necessary funding to purchase musical instruments and this scheme assists them with the cost. The arts in education charter is very good in that it facilitates artists going into schools. The Deputy is correct. I am anxious that all citizens and young people should obtain access to the arts because there are huge benefits in that. I am aware of that from when I worked in the credit union movement, which runs the well known annual Credit Union Art Competition. It had a special category for children with disabilities. Perhaps that is something we could examine in arts funding. I agree that it must be equality proofed and I will take that up with the Arts Council.
In any debate the Government can always point to a number of programmes which are good, no matter what we discuss. However, the point is that the general situation is not good. If one examines the sector in its entirety, there is not a positive delivery to different sectors, particularly disadvantaged sectors. The Minister has given a nebulous promise that at some time in the future the Government might focus on this issue but that is not good enough. Arts & Disability Ireland, ADI, has pointed to the massive challenges that exist with regard to improving programmes within the sector and to the fact that there is no continuity in policy direction and implementation related to including people with disabilities in the arts, despite the thorough documentation available. In line with Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will the Minister not take the opportunity to state that by the end of 2017, every euro spent by the Government on the arts will be equality-proofed in order that nobody will be left behind, regardless of whether he or she is from working class or rural areas or has disabilities? Will she give that commitment today?
I know the Minister has been very supportive of the arts in education charter and, specifically, the local arts in education partnership. As the Minister is aware, we had a very good model in Cavan-Monaghan. There is an opportunity for equality proofing, getting into the heart of primary school children and giving them the opportunity to engage in and access arts and cultural activities. That partnership is intended for local authorities and education and training boards, which are at the heart of education. I know the Arts Council is very supportive of that notion as well. Dr. Katie Sweeney is the national director for the integration of the arts at the Department of Education and Skills. In terms of the Minister's budget and plans for 2017, is there anything specific for the development of local arts in education partnerships where the measure referred to by Deputy Tóibín could be rolled out?
We fund the arts in education charter. We increased the funding last year. I am very committed to it. It relates to young children accessing the arts and getting the opportunity to get involved in them at an early age. It is about doing this in schools. Targeting schools is the best opportunity to access all of the children, including children in disadvantaged areas. We need to get into all the schools. This is the best way to get young people involved in the arts.
In 2015, support from my Department totalled €129,000 for the arts in education. This included a payment of €60,000 to the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals for its work in arts in education. The Arts Council provides funding to a number of organisations to assist in the delivery of arts in education projects in schools. To be fair to the Arts Council, it does a lot of work in this area and provides support to Poetry Ireland's Writers in Schools scheme, which involves writers and storytellers visiting primary and post-primary schools. This is in addition to the Bringing to Book Artist-in-Residence scheme, which is a Children's Books Ireland project.
Is there any specific plan for the roll out of local arts in education partnerships? I accept what she said about the funding of €60,000 provided to the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals whose Creative Engagement scheme has been ongoing for years. Are there specific plans in the 2017 budget for the development or roll out of local arts in education partnerships nationally?
We continue to work with the Department of Education and Skills because two Departments are involved. We will continue to work on that and to develop the arts in education partnership. We need to support it more. I am certainly very conscious of it and will work on it.
Rural Development Plan
Peter Burke
Question:11. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the status of the action plan for rural development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31139/16]
I welcome the announcement in A Programme for a Partnership Government of a new Department with the Minister at the helm that will have a renewed focus on making rural Ireland more sustainable. It is very important to mirror the action plan for jobs and have a number of key targets set out clearly with clear timelines for implementation. I would be grateful if the Minister could provide an update in respect of the action plan for rural development.
Supporting rural development is a key priority for this Government. The programme for a partnership Government contains a series of commitments for delivery across a range of Departments and State agencies to revitalise rural Ireland and ensure that the benefits of economic recovery are felt in all regions. The action plan for rural development will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives across Government that will benefit rural Ireland and help to generate increased economic activity in rural areas.
Progress is now well under way on the development of the action plan. In September, I wrote to my Cabinet colleagues seeking inputs to the plan. I took the opportunity to brief Members on 29 September on the approach being taken in the development of the action plan and I invited Members to offer practical suggestions for measures that could support economic and social development in rural Ireland. I also invited the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to provide an input to the development of the plan.
Over the last few weeks, my Department conducted an extensive consultation process through a series of workshops around the country, to seek the views of people living and working in rural Ireland on potential measures for inclusion in the action plan. My Department has also held a series of bilateral meetings with key stakeholder groups. My officials are currently working through the many suggestions received arising from the consultation process and my objective is to publish the action plan for rural development before the end of the year.
I would be grateful if the Minister would set out how much funding will be available for the action plan for rural development. I note that there has been significant investment in greenways and sustainable projects in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath. The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, will be aware of our sports capital grants. It is very important that we continue this but in a more co-ordinated fashion through sustainable targets and that we ensure these targets are met. Significant work has been done to provide a roadmap to an exceptional town in Westmeath called Moate. This town has faced significant challenges because the further west you go, the greater the challenges. It set up its own group and developed a number of sustainable projects within the town. It is very important for the Government to meet people like this. It would be very worthwhile to see that. I would be grateful if the Minister could advise on the budget for it.
Funding for rural development programmes within my Department's Estimate for 2017 will amount to €79.27 million. This represents an increase of €18 million or 29% compared to the 2016 baseline of €61.2 million. This will allow for increased activity on key rural development schemes administered by the Department and will also complement the broader work of the Department, much of which has a positive impact on rural Ireland. For example, we have trebled the funding for the town and village regeneration scheme. The figure for 2017 is €12 million. We have secured an additional €8 million for the rural development scheme, including €5 million for the recently re-opened Clár programme. There will be €40 million for the delivery of the Leader rural development programme. I have increased the funding for the preparation for the roll-out of broadband across rural Ireland and I should also mention the increase in funding for the Heritage Council which will benefit communities in rural Ireland. Some schemes are running at the moment, including the town and village regeneration scheme. Applications are being examined. There is a total of €10 million in that scheme. Applications to the €5 million rural economic development zone programme will close at the end of this month. A total of €4.5 million has been provided in rural recreation funding.
I welcome the response. I think we are approaching this in the correct manner in having an action plan. Finea in County Westmeath has faced huge challenges. The huge Mr. Crumb factory is located there and cannot get sufficient broadband, which is a huge challenge for it. We need to do the things we spoke about such as a co-ordinated plan to ensure we encourage sustainable employment in the region and in turn revitalise the region. It is very important that we continue on that path. I also welcome the town and village regeneration scheme which tries to promote good sustainable projects. We went through a very tough time but the Minister is co-ordinating it well and I encourage her to keep going on this path. Hopefully, we can learn the lessons of the past and ensure that we have renewed investment in rural Ireland.
This action plan for rural development is about joined-up thinking at a higher level and getting Departments to "rural proof" their policies and positively discriminate in favour of rural Ireland.
I have said this on a number of occasions and they will have to focus on rural Ireland. The Deputy mentioned the village of Moate, and I will be happy to visit. It is great to see communities coming together and coming up with their own ideas. The town and village enhancement scheme allows communities to develop local solutions for local issues.
Unfortunately, the time has elapsed. The clocks were not functioning for much of the debate due to an electronic error. It was no fault of the Deputies or Ministers.
Beaten by the bell. I will get the written answer.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.