Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 June 2014
13. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding streams available to support art galleries and exhibitions, particularly in Galway and other locations outside Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24451/14]
View answerResponsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels throughout the country is primarily devolved to the Arts Council. The Arts Council is the principal statutory agency through which State funding is channelled to the arts. Under the Arts Act 2003, the Council is independent in its day-to-day operations and I am precluded from involvement in its funding decisions. Accordingly, funding decisions in relation to art galleries and exhibitions in Galway and throughout the State are a matter for the Arts Council, as are decisions on the award of funding to local authorities. Full information on such decisions is available from the Decisions Database on the Arts Council website at www.artscouncil.ie . Details of the Council's various programmes and application forms are also available at this website.
As the Deputy is aware, the Programme for Government includes a commitment to expanding private support of the arts and, in that context, a small capital grants scheme has been introduced by my Department for 2014. This scheme is also designed to encourage philanthropy. In 2014, the scheme has a maximum allocation per project of €10,000, which can be applied to meet up to 70% of the cost of the project. The balance of 30% must be funded from the project's own resources, or from philanthropic sources, or by a mixture of both. The 2014 scheme is an indication of the ongoing work being done to support the development of a culture of philanthropy in the arts sector.
