The Chairman is moving at a quick pace and I will try to keep it up. Before my formal presentation, I would like to introduce the Department officials who are accompanying me. They are Mr. Con Haugh, Secretary General, Mr. Paul Bates, assistant secretary, Mr. Niall Ó Donnchú, assistant secretary, Mr. Donagh Morgan, assistant secretary, and Ms Mary Nash, assistant principal officer.
I am very pleased to present the 2008 Estimate for my ministerial Vote group and to have this opportunity to meet with the committee to discuss the Estimates for my Department, the National Gallery of Ireland and related issues. Before turning to the detail of the Estimate itself, I would like to refer to the 2008 output statement for my ministerial Vote group. While not formally part of the Estimates, output statements are an element of the budget and Estimates reform measures announced by the Minister for Finance in the 2006 budget. The output statement is designed to match the key outputs of the main programmes to the financial and staffing resources allocated to them for each year. It shows the output targets which were set out for 2007 at the beginning of that year. It also shows how we performed against those targets. The 2008 output statement also contains output targets for 2009.
Turning to the Estimates, I have responsibility for the Votes of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the National Gallery of Ireland. The total allocation to the Vote group in 2008 is €725 million, which is an increase of 12% over 2007. My remit covers a very wide area including arts, culture, film, sport and tourism. I will confine my comments to a small number of developments for which provision has been made in the 2008 Estimates.
There is provision in 2008 for expenditure in the tourism part of my Department for close to €170 million, representing an increase of 10% on last year. In 2007, the number of overseas visitors to Ireland exceeded the 8 million mark, representing an increase of 4% on the previous year. Foreign revenue earnings amounted to €4.9 billion, which is an increase of 4.5% on 2006. While the outlook for this year is more challenging due to adverse currency movements, turmoil in international financial markets and rising oil prices, we are still targeting further increases as set out in the output statement. I was greatly encouraged by last week's CSO statistics which showed an increase of over 4% in overseas visitor numbers for the first quarter of 2008.
The core Fáilte Ireland allocation of just under €83 million for 2008 will enable a range of programmes and initiatives to be advanced in the areas of product development, domestic and niche marketing, training and support for festivals and major sports tourism events. Subhead B2 provides €20 million for the pay and operating costs of Tourism Ireland, the all-island tourism marketing company set up under the Good Friday Agreement. The Exchequer provision for the tourism marketing fund under subhead B4 is €50 million for 2008, an increase of 11% on 2007. This will enable a range of international marketing activities and initiatives to be rolled out this year in line with Tourism Ireland's three-year corporate strategy, which was approved by the North-South Ministerial Council in November 2007. A further meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council took place outside Enniskillen last week, during which I had a very productive engagement with my Northern Ireland ministerial colleagues, Nigel Dodds, MLA, and Michelle Gildernew, MLA, about a range of tourism co-operation issues. Finally, €15.7 million is being provided to support tourism product development projects in line with Fáilte Ireland's new product development strategy under the national development plan.
Tourism is one of our most important economic sectors, accounting for a quarter of a million jobs and generating total revenues of €6.5 billion a year. It has a wide regional spread and the potential to deliver continued sustainable growth. Despite a challenging market outlook this year and competitive pressures, the fundamentals of the industry are sound, particularly in light of public and private investment in recent years. We have a robust policy framework for the development of the sector under the €800 million tourism programme included in the national development plan and the New Horizons tourism strategy set out in the report of the tourism policy review group. The tourism services budget for 2008 will enable the appropriate support programmes to move forward this year and I believe that we will see continued growth during the year.
The huge social and economic benefits of sport are acknowledged by the Government and are reflected in the unprecedented level of Government funding for sport. The level of funding available for sport in 2008 is €336 million, compared to just €17 million in 1997. The sports capital programme is the primary means of providing Government funding to sport and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. It is operated on an annual basis and draws on national lottery funds. A total of €568 million has been allocated in sports capital funding since 1998 to 6,716 sports facility projects. Furthermore, capital funding of €107 million has been provided towards the redevelopment of Croke Park during the same period. The 2008 programme was advertised on 13-14 January 2008 and the deadline for receipt of applications was 29 February for paper-based applications, and 7 March for on-line applications. All applications received before the deadline are currently being evaluated, and I intend to announce the grant allocations for the programme as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed.
The single largest financial provision in the 2008 Estimates is for the new Lansdowne Road stadium project. Under the national development plan, the Government is making a contribution of €191 million towards the project. A total of €116 million has been provided this year. This is made up of €93 million in the C5 subhead and a further €23 million carried over from the 2007 allocation. The project is on target to be completed in 2010. It is heartening to observe the progress which is plainly visible. The new stadium at Lansdowne Road will be a distinctive sporting and architectural landmark for the city. It will be a world-class stadium and a source of pride for the people of Dublin and the people of Ireland.
Phase 1 of the national sports campus project at Abbotstown will provide the major field sports of Gaelic games, soccer, rugby and hockey, and up to 20 other sports, with unrivalled training and medical facilities. A project management team and a design team were appointed recently to take the project forward and it is hoped that planning permission will be applied for by the end of the year. Planning permission has already been received for the refurbishment of the former central meat control laboratory as a headquarters for the Irish Institute of Sport. It is also hoped to have this work completed by the end of the year. The national development plan provides €30 million for development of the second phase of the campus and the NSCDA has been asked to begin its assessment and analysis of what is required for the next step in this exciting national sports initiative.
This is Olympic year and I am looking forward to a good performance from the Irish teams at the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games in Beijing. The committee recently met with the Irish Sports Council and members were briefed on preparations for the games. The Irish Sports Council works in partnership with the Irish Institute of Sport, the Olympic Council of Ireland, the Paralympic Council of Ireland and the relevant national governing bodies of sport in the preparation of Irish athletes for the Olympic and Paralympic games. Significant progress has been made to date by all these agencies in preparation for the games.
The Olympic and Paralympic councils of Ireland are the agencies responsible for the organisation and participation of the Irish teams at the Olympic and Paralympic games. The Irish Sports Council provides annual funding to both councils for administration and programme costs aimed specifically at preparation for the games. Primary responsibility for the preparation and performance of individual athletes rests with the relevant national governing body, or in the case of paralympic sports, the Paralympic Council of Ireland.
Planning has been comprehensive and well-funded, with plans implemented by top quality professionals at every step. The ISC has defined success as meeting its target of six finalists at the Olympics. There are three key elements to the funding provided by the Irish Sports Council towards the Olympics. The international carding scheme provides direct funding to athletes. The funding to the national governing bodies for the performance plans provides comprehensive training, competition and support programmes for the athletes. The Irish Institute of Sport is funded to focus on the long-term structures of elite sport.
In February 2008, the Irish Sports Council announced the allocation of €9 million in high performance support to athletes and teams received over €2.2 million under the international carding scheme. A total of 15 focus sports received over €5.9 million for their high performance plans, and the Institute of Irish Sport received €935,000. According to the ISC, this brings the total high performance investment in this Olympic and Paralympic cycle to more than €30 million.
The infinite richness, variety and breadth of the activities in my Department and the arts organisations and cultural institutions in our area of responsibility were really brought home to me in preparing for the meeting with this committee. These are vibrant and vital sectors of our economy, the wellspring, I believe, of many of our creative and innovative enterprises. These sectors are primary economic contributors, real businesses, enduring employers and differentiators of us as a cultural and tourist destination, as well as areas that truly distinguish us as a people in a world of increasing sameness.
We have never had a better opportunity to make the arts, cultural and creative sectors truly central to our well-being as a nation and to our future as an economy. This year alone, my Department will invest almost €250 million in the arts and culture sector and creative industries. Over the lifetime of the current national development plan, we will invest almost €1 billion in hard physical infrastructure for those sectors. That is real, tangible investment in the real economy.
The arts, cultural and creative sectors have achieved much in recent years. Two of our museums have in recent years won European museum of the year awards, the National Library wins prizes internationally for its exhibitions, the National Museum achieved the annual 1 million visitors mark for the first time in 2007, Irish-made films won 20 prestigious prizes internationally last year and Irish writers continue to excel at international literature competitions.
Visitor numbers to the national cultural institutions should surpass 3 million for first time ever in 2008 and they could reach 5 million a year by the end of the decade. Opening hours at the cultural institutions must be extended so that they are all open on Sundays, public holidays and late one night during the week. Great progress is being made in that respect. Real progress is being made on the new national theatre, the National Concert Hall and regional arts infrastructure.
The Arts Council's funding for 2008 is reflected in its ambitious work programme, aimed at progressing the aims of the long-term strategy partnership for the arts 2006-10, with particular emphasis on access and audiences, making it possible for people to extend and enhance their experiences of the arts through additional funding for touring, festivals, community music and the council's In Context programme, thus enabling the arts in settings outside the gallery, the theatre and the concert hall. One of the most important points about audiences is that with developments in technology the arts audience is large and growing and is not limited to those people who attend live arts events or visit a gallery or museum. New media represent an opportunity of reaching a wider audience. The Arts Council has organised a seminar for summer 2008 on the arts, new media and broadcasting to highlight the policy implications of this important area.
There is also emphasis on strengthening arts organisations countrywide, including theatre, film and the traditional arts, to secure the basis of a vibrant and stable arts community. The three-year funding concordat with the Abbey Theatre has assisted in the transformation of the organisation. Highlights of the 2008 programme bear testament to this, including the Irish premiere of Conor McPherson's "The Seafarer", Seamus Heaney's "The Burial at Thebes", a version of Sophocles' "Antigone" and Selina Cartmell's directorial debut on the Abbey Theatre's main stage with Charles Mee's "Big Love". In 2008 it is intended to extend this concordat arrangement to other regularly funded organisations.
On North-South matters, the council is continuing the major initiative undertaken in 2007 with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland which culminated in successful joint exhibitions in the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, and the Void Gallery, Derry. A major survey of individual artists will be undertaken on a joint basis which will address not only the living and working conditions of artists North and South but also mobility between both jurisdictions.
There will be a doubling of the so-called touring fund allocation for 2008, and other initiatives being undertaken in 2008 include a programme to encourage philanthropic support of the arts and, in partnership with commercial galleries, an exploration of the potential for co-operation between the private and public sectors in developing the visual arts.
Our national collections are a core part of the national patrimony. The objects and treasures in our possession are open and accessible to the public. The collections are educational as well as aesthetic. They tell a story as well as inspiring a vision of continuing creative endeavour and excellence. The national cultural institutions are also a vital part of our cultural tourism agenda, which is why they also need continual investment in infrastructure, people and materials. The visitor aim for 2008 is challenging and I have every confidence it can be reached.
One of my Department's projects caught the public's imagination in a remarkable way in 2007, namely, the digitisation of the 1901 and the 1911 censuses funded from the D4 subhead. In November 2007, Dubliners found that they could search the National Archives website for family members who had been included in censuses at the beginning of the previous century. This facility has proved enormously popular. In 2008, a further €1.1 million has been provided which will allow the extension of the same facility outside Dublin. The 1901 and 1911 census information for people who lived outside Dublin should be available on the website by the end of the year.
The capital allocation to the Irish Film Board is used for the provision of development and production loans to the independent film and television production sector. The board has a dual mandate to develop Irish film-making talent that will engage audiences at home and abroad while maintaining and building the resources, crafts and skill of the Irish industry through attracting international productions to Ireland.
In parallel with the expenditure under my Department's Vote, the section 481 scheme continues to offer film producers an essential source of funds for their projects. The Minister for Finance announced in his budget speech last year that he was extending the scheme until the end of 2012 and in the Finance Act this year he increased the overall ceiling on qualifying expenditure from €35 million to €50 million.
In 2007, films supported by the Irish Film Board fared well internationally. The film "Once", which has grossed more than €9 million internationally and drawn wide international acclaim, was produced for just €294,000, with support from the Irish Film Board. It won awards at the Sundance film festival in the USA and at film festivals in London and Moscow. Committee members will recall that it won the Oscar for best original song in 2008. Other films did well with "True North" winning best film at the Cherbourg film festival, "Speed Dating" winning best feature film award at the Malibu international film festival and "The Tudors" winning two Emmy awards.
My Vote group also includes Vote 33 for the National Gallery. Of the €12.6 million allocation in 2008, more than €9 million is to meet general administration costs and most of the balance is to fund acquisitions and conservation activity by the gallery. The gallery will host two major exhibitions during 2008. The Impressionist Interiors exhibition has already started and features 46 wonderful paintings and drawings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cassatt, Gauguin, Vuillard and Morisot, many of which have been brought together from important collections in Europe and the United States of America. In November, the exhibition, Northern Stars and Southern Lights: The Golden Age of Finnish Art 1870-1920, will celebrate the high-point of Finnish art from an era when the country was still a grand duchy of Russia.
The programmes I have mentioned comprise only a few of the many which are funded by my Department and the organisations under its aegis. I hope it gives a flavour of the range of projects and activities for which I am responsible. This is my first time presenting the Estimates to the committee and I look forward to a productive and fruitful working relationship with it over the coming years. In conclusion, I commend the Estimates to the committee and I will be happy to provide additional information or clarifications to members during the course of our discussions this afternoon.
