Is mór agam an deis seo a fháil teacht os comhair an choiste seo inniu chun Meastacháin mo Roinne do 2011 a phlé. Members of the sub-committee will be aware that the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht was formed in its current structure as part of the reorganisation of certain departmental functions that was announced by the Taoiseach in March. The Department retained responsibility for the arts function from the former Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport and the key responsibilities for the heritage and Gaeltacht functions transferred with effect from 1 May.
I will begin by explaining the apparent increase of 46% in my Department's administration subhead for 2011. In reality, there has been no such increase. The 2010 figures shown for comparison purposes do not include the administration costs of the former Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, as shown in Vote 27. Nor do they include the salary costs of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, included last year as programme costs in Vote 25. I understand the format adopted in this Revised Estimates Volume was necessary for Government accounting purposes. I make it clear to the committee, however, that there have been no increases in staff or administration costs as a result of the reconfiguration of my Department.
In addition to the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Vote, I also have responsibility for the Vote for the National Gallery. I propose to refer briefly to some of the key areas of expenditure for which I have direct responsibility. I will then hand over to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Dinny McGinley, who will speak about the relevant aspects of the Gaeltacht, Irish language and island programmes.
The 2011 gross allocation from my Department is over €269 million, with a further €10.1 million allocated to the National Gallery Vote. The Estimate reflects full year funding regarding the arts and heritage subheads. Funding for certain subheads covering the Gaeltacht, the Irish language, the islands and North-South co-operation is for the period from 1 May to 31 December only. Funding for these subheads from January to April and the outturn for 2010 are reflected in Vote 27 - Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs.
The culture and heritage sectors have always been of huge importance to us and have helped to shape the nation and our unique identity as a people. They must be valued in themselves and as a heritage for future generations which we have an obligation to maintain and protect. The richness of Ireland's culture and heritage, as well as its environmental qualities, are continually cited in Fáilte Ireland's research as important reasons tourists choose to visit here. It is important that we value these sectors as part of our unique heritage and what we are, as well as recognising their contribution to Ireland's tourism product.
The programme for Government emphasises the importance of tourism for national recovery and specifically improving our tourism product. Tourism remains a large, strategically important industry and employment generator which is deeply embedded in the economy. The World Tourism Organization has estimated that cultural tourism which spans traditional culture, living culture and natural and built culture represents about 35% and 40% of all tourism worldwide and is estimated to be growing.
Each of the sectors of my Department plays a significant role with regard to cultural tourism and its importance for national recovery. With regard to the arts and culture subheads, including the National Gallery, almost €115 million has been allocated this year. The arts and culture sectors are vibrant and vital sectors of the economy. They are primary economic contributors, real businesses, enduring employers and differentiate us as a cultural entity and tourist destination.
Rebuilding Ireland's reputation in key territories around the world has been one of the Government's top priorities from day one. Culture must be at the heart of this promotional strategy. It is the most powerful, positive connection for the 70 million global Irish and the hundreds of millions more who have come to know and love Ireland for its culture, as identified at the first Global Irish Economic Forum at Farmleigh.
With the year long strategic initiative of Imagine Ireland, Culture Ireland is show-casing more than 1,000 contemporary artists in all art forms to new audiences across America. It demonstrates the energy, ambition and can-do spirit of the Irish arts and culture community in promoting the best of Ireland in this key market and is just one example of Culture Ireland's programmes show-casing and supporting Irish arts and artists worldwide.
Our national cultural institutions continue to attract large numbers of visitors and are a vital component of Ireland's cultural tourism product. In 2010 over 3.5 million people visited cultural institutions funded by my Department. For example, the National Museum of Ireland alone attracted almost 1 million visitors across its four sites last year, putting it on a par with many other notable galleries and museums internationally. I am pleased to say visitor numbers to our cultural institutions for the first quarter of 2011 were continuing to grow.
The direct benefits that accrue to the country by way of cultural tourism represent a significant return on the investment in our cultural institutions and cultural infrastructure generally. However, it must not be forgotten that cultural institutions also play a significant role in defining and fostering the cultural profile of the country abroad and make a crucial contribution to the collective national effort to restore and promote the country's international image.
The funding provided from subhead B4 for Culture Night allows it to continue to grow and develop from a relatively small-scale cultural event staged only in Dublin in 2006 to the significant national culture event it now is, with over 500 cultural venues across 20 locations throughout the country participating in Culture Night 2010. Plans for the 2011 event are well under way, as are discussions regarding the most appropriate way to build on the success and popularity of Culture Night for 2012 and beyond. These discussions include the feasibility of making Culture Night a twice yearly event as proposed in the programme for Government.
My Department is also pleased to fund Dublin Contemporary 2011, a major exhibition of leading and emerging Irish and international contemporary art spread across a number of landmark sites in Dublin city centre over a period of eight weeks from 6 September to 31 October. Dublin Contemporary 2011 will be the largest contemporary art event of its kind and scale ever held in Ireland and will feature over 90 artists from 40 countries across five continents. The project will provide a highlight for cultural tourism in Ireland on a global scale, with an anticipated audience in the region of 150,000 visitors and clearly demonstrates the resilience and renewed confidence of the nation and, in particular, the creative vitality of Dublin as our capital city.
With regard to the Irish audiovisual sector, I am pleased to say it continues to perform well. In 2010 a total of 57 projects were approved for funding with an Irish spend of €164.7 million, up from 44 projects and a spend of €106.7 million in 2009. That is an increase in the Irish spend of €58 million or 54%. This was a significant achievement and is something on which I hope we can continue to build. In that regard, a strategic review of the audiovisual content industry has recently been completed and will be considered shortly by the Government. It will provide a road map for the next few years and assist in enabling the domestic audiovisual content production sector to develop into an internationally traded sector for product and services over a five year period, 2011 to 2015.
Throughout the past year Ireland has continued to build on its excellent international reputation for film talent. Highlights include the Irish film industry receiving five Academy Award nominations, three of which were for the Irish films, "The Secret of Kells", "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty", and "The Door", while the Irish animator, Richard Baneham, and his team picked up the Oscar for the best visual effects for his work on "Avatar".
The allocation for cultural infrastructure and development is significantly reduced in 2011 compared to 2010, down by 47% to €7.8 million. That will prove to be a challenge in delivering on the projects approved for funding in my Department's cultural infrastructure programmes. It will require careful scheduling and monitoring to ensure all of the projects approved for funding remain sustainable and relevant in the context of tightening resources. This is an important programme as it builds the number of quality art centres, galleries, theatres, performance spaces and so on which play an important part in attracting visitors and tourists to the country.
I now turn to the heritage programmes, for which €24 million has been allocated this year. To harness the increase in global interest in heritage related tourism, my Department has identified the sector as an area that could help to stimulate economic growth. This can be achieved by co-operating with and assisting tourism interests to improve, enhance and expand the range and quality of the information generally available on Ireland's wealth of archaeological heritage, with the objective of enhancing its tourism appeal and raising its profile to potential overseas visitors and on the domestic market. A working group has been set up to establish how my Department's considerable knowledge and expertise could be brought to bear to best effect.
My Department has overall responsibility for protecting Ireland's built heritage through legislation; protecting structures in local authority development plans; the recording of that heritage through the national inventory of architectural heritage; the provision of capital funding for the built heritage; and the provision of professional guidance. It also has responsibility for policy on world heritage sites in Ireland. Separately, it promotes overall Government policy on architecture which has a central built heritage element. Funding for built heritage in 2011 is reduced quite significantly on previous years. However, my Department is still committed to the conservation and protection of Ireland's built heritage for the enjoyment of present and future generations and for our national and international visitors.
As demonstrated by the recent State visits of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and US President Barack Obama, heritage properties in State care, such as the Rock of Cashel, Dublin Castle and the Phoenix Park, play an important role in showcasing our heritage, culture and national uniqueness. My Department will continue to provide assistance this year to the Office of Public Works for conservation works to heritage properties in State care in the context of sustaining the intrinsically linked heritage and tourism industries.
The Heritage Council, which is tasked under legislation with the promotion and protection of heritage, will continue to be supported in 2011 in the amount of €7.5 million. Schemes such as the walled towns initiative, the significant places of public worship scheme and the conservation plan-led projects grants scheme will continue to operate this year.
In the context of the suspension of the local authority conservation grants scheme and the civic structures conservation grants scheme, my Department introduced a structures-at-risk fund this year to assist with structures that are at serious risk of deterioration and which are protected under Part IV of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2010. With the limited fund available of €650,000, we are able to assist 23 local authorities with conservation works to 31 projects, including landmark buildings such as Aldborough House in Dublin, several thatched cottages, churches and private dwellings.
While acknowledging the important statutory role of my Department in meeting our national and international obligations on protecting our natural heritage, I must allude to my Department's role in developing and improving our cultural tourism product. Our national parks have traditionally been managed largely for conservation and educational purposes. More recently, the tourism dimension of national parks has been recognised and this has been borne out by surveys carried out by Fáilte Ireland.
Investment in the conservation of our natural heritage has the dual benefit of preserving our natural environment for future generations while also improving the local and national economy through the generation and expansion of responsible tourism. Our heritage sites, both natural and built, are "core assets" that will play a very important role in stimulating a much-needed resurgence in the tourism industry.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service sites, such as Glendalough, the Burren and Killarney National Park, feature prominently in Fáilte Ireland's publicity campaigns to attract international visitors. The term "national park" is perhaps one of the most recognised international brands. I am conscious that our international brand equity which has been built up over many years must not be eroded through reduced investment or under-investment as this will inevitably lead to loss of market share in the very competitive international tourism market.
Keeping national parks open, apart from providing opportunities for private commercial operations within the parks, is of critical importance to the service industry in the regions where parks are situated. Studies in other jurisdictions show that national parks have a positive economic impact on the local economy in supporting employment both directly and indirectly and more generally in boosting visitor numbers and tourism. I will be seeking to build on and maximise this valuable natural and economic asset.
I would like to refer to the issue of turf cutting and the protection of designated bogs, which will draw some €6 million from the financial resources available to me this year, between voted expenditure and funding from the environment fund. It is useful to recall the facts of this issue. Under EU law, Ireland is required to protect various species and natural habitats of international importance, including by designating areas as special areas of conservation, SACs. Ireland's raised bog SACs were designated between 1997 and 2002. In 1999, the then Minister announced a ten-year derogation for domestic turf cutting in order to allow the transition for turf-cutters to other arrangements.
In May 2010, the previous Government confirmed that the derogation was over and that turf cutting must cease on a phased basis, starting immediately with 31 sites and by the end of this year for all raised bog SACs. However, it did not put in place the long-term compensation arrangements necessary to facilitate this cessation.
Turning to this year, Ireland received a letter of formal notice from the European Commission in January last alleging systematic and ongoing failure to comply with the provisions of the habitats directive with regard to the protection of active raised bogs. Since coming into office, both the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, and I have spoken to the Environment Commissioner on several occasions and have given him assurances that the matter will be dealt with satisfactorily.
Within weeks of assuming office, this Government established a substantial long-term compensation package for turf-cutters, offering an annual index-linked payment of €1,000 for 15 years or, where feasible, the option to relocate to alternative non-designated bog to continue cutting.
We have also established the Peatlands Council - the first forum created that is inclusive of turf-cutting, environmental and Government interests - to review independently all the issues surrounding turf cutting, in addition to contributing to a long-term strategy for the management of designated peatlands.
On 1 June last, the council achieved a significant breakthrough when an agreed way forward was reached by its members and a commitment was given that no more turf cutting would take place on the sites where the derogation has ended. To the credit of the IFA and the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association, which made these undertakings, there have been no further incidents of cutting on these bogs. I understand a Commission spokesperson asserted mistakenly there had been but this is not the case. I am happy to set the record straight in this regard.
In recent weeks, the European Commission further signalled the seriousness it attributes to this issue by presenting Ireland with a reasoned opinion. It is clear that we must act immediately to comply with European law. This means the law must be enforced in regard to turf cutting in raised bog SACs. We must also ensure the turf-cutters in these sites who have been compelled to stop cutting are treated fairly in terms of compensation or relocation. In the longer term, we must put in place measures to restore the active raised bog that we have lost and provide compensatory habitat.
It is clear that we cannot waver from this course of action and failure to address these issues now will certainly see us referred to the European Court of Justice. Ireland is likely to face significant fines if found against by the court and the imposition of such fines would not in any way negate the need to take the actions required to comply with the habitats directive.
In regard to North-South co-operation, some €46.9 million is available this year to support the two North-South implementation bodies, Waterways Ireland and An Foras Teanga. The latter comprises Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency. My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, will speak about An Foras Teanga.
Waterways Ireland is responsible for the management, maintenance, development and restoration of the inland navigable waterway system, principally for recreational purposes. Its allocation is currently funded 85% by this State and 15% by Northern Ireland. Waterways Ireland aims to develop and promote the waterways as national assets for future generations. The waterways are a key recreational resource, a tourist attraction in their own right and also a vehicle for the regeneration of waterside communities. Through opportunities for activities including fishing, walking and cycling, the waterways provide a catalyst for urban and rural regeneration of local communities and bring opportunities for the development of local businesses through increased visitor activity.
Members will be aware that funding for these bodies is provided by my Department and the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in accordance with budgets approved by the North-South Ministerial Council. I look forward to these matters being discussed at the council meeting to be held in Armagh tomorrow.
I will be happy to expand on any matter the members may wish to raise. I will now pass over to the Minister of State, Dinny McGinley.