National Cultural Institutions

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 July 2013

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Questions (401, 402, 403)

Sandra McLellan

Question:

401. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the progress that has been made on the proposal contained in the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure 2012-2014 on having a single event manager post which could promote the facilities in the national cultural institutions under one brand; if he will outline that progress; the savings that would be made by the implementation of this proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36417/13]

Sandra McLellan

Question:

402. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the progress that has been made on the proposal contained in the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure 2012-2014 on shared finance services, and HR services across national cultural institutions; if he will outline that progress; the savings that would be made by the implementation of this proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36418/13]

Sandra McLellan

Question:

403. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the cost of conservation, cleaning and maintenance across the State's cultural institutions; if further consideration has been given to the proposals in the comprehensive review of expenditure to put in place a structure along the lines of the Art Lab proposals in Australia; the income that could be generated in that way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36419/13]

Written answers

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

I propose to take Questions Nos. 401 to 403, inclusive, together.

The outcome of the Expenditure Review is implicit in the annual allocations made to the national cultural institutions in 2012 and 2013. Through the Council of National Cultural Institutions the marketing efforts of those institutions are coordinated .

The Public Sector Reform plan, published in November 2011, promotes the sharing of operational and support services between the national cultural institutions. These services include those posited by the Deputy. A significant amount of progress has been made in that regard and service level agreements between institutions are nearing completion. Pending formalisation of those service-level agreements a significant degree of administrative cooperation and sharing of resources is already taking place.