Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 December 2013
210. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which philanthropic funding remains available for the promotion of the arts; the extent to which the future is secure in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51915/13]
View answerThe Programme for Government includes the following commitment in the area of Philanthropy and the Arts:-
"We will work with stakeholders in the Arts community to develop new proposals aimed at building private support of the Arts in Ireland exploring philanthropic, sponsorship or endowment fund opportunities".
Since taking office two years ago, I have introduced a number of initiatives to address this commitment.
In May 2012 I introduced a new philanthropic initiative for arts and culture organisations. The initiative - the Philanthropic Leverage Initiative - was designed to encourage philanthropic sponsorship and endowment of the arts from private sources. The initiative has provided an incentive to arts organisations to proactively seek new funding relationships with sponsors which deliver private sector financial support, thereby increasing overall funding available to the arts. The initiative proved very successful with a multiplier of 4.26 in philanthropic donations being leveraged for the arts. The arts got a boost of over €1 million last year, of which less than one-fifth came from the public purse. A full list of awards under this scheme can be viewed on my Department's website at www.ahg.gov.ie.
This year, €210,000 is available to arts organisations under the Initiative. The terms are as follows:
- Up to €5,000 of funds can be accessed through the scheme if the organisation can match each €1 from the taxpayer with €2 from private sector sources;
- Up to €10,000 if each €1 from the taxpayer can be matched by €3 from private sector funding;
- Up to €15,000 if each €1 from the taxpayer can be matched by €4 from private sector funding.
In 2013, priority was given to arts and culture organisations seeking support for projects that include an education component. This is to support the Arts in Education Charter, which I launched in conjunction with Mr. Ruairí Quinn, T.D., Minister for Education and Skills. Accordingly, the Initiative, while continuing to provide an incentive to arts organisations to engage in fundraising, will also encourage arts and culture organisations to engage creatively with children and young people and add to their education. In doing so, they will be helping to foster the artists and the audiences of the future.
I should mention also that in October 2012 I hosted and chaired a forum on Philanthropy and the Arts in Smock Alley Theatre. It featured speakers from key philanthropic organisations and the arts in Ireland. The conference was very well attended and generated very positive feedback. There is a full report of the conference on my Department's website.
Parallel to these initiatives, the Arts Council is undertaking an initiative - RAISE: Building Fundraising Capacity - which dovetails with the work in my Department. The initiative consists of a programme which is providing one-to-one professional support to selected arts organisations for two years to assist in planning and implementing a tailored fundraising programme for each organisation. Eight leading Irish arts organisations are aiming to raise €10 million in private funding over the next five years as part of this Arts Council initiative.
