Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
1907. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the departmental budget allocation to Creative Ireland in 2017 and 2018, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54944/17]
View answer1910. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the breakdown of the €802,000 costs for Creative Ireland of the citizen engagement plan to raise awareness and engage persons in the programme both nationally and internationally, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54947/17]
View answer1911. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of artists who received funding from Creative Ireland in 2017; the amount of funding they received, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54948/17]
View answer1912. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the breakdown of costs for Cruinniú na Cásca in 2017; the projected costs for 2018, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54949/17]
View answer1918. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the costs related to the promotion of Creative Ireland other than money that directly funds art or artists since its inception, in tabular form. [55047/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1907, 1910 to 1912, inclusive, and 1918 together.
The full breakdown of costs of the Creative Ireland Programme in 2017 is available on the Creative Ireland Programme website of my Department at https://creative.ireland.ie.
The overall budget for the Creative Ireland Programme in 2017 was €5m. An allocation of €6m has been made available for the Programme in 2018. Of this €2m will be allocated to the local authorities to develop their Culture and Creativity Strategies. €1m will be allocated to the roll-out of the Creative Youth Plan. This will be matched by €1m from the Department of Education and Skills. The remainder of the budget for 2018 is under consideration at present and will be allocated in the coming weeks.
The Creative Ireland Programme is an all-of-government high level, high ambition, five-year initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which aims to place creativity at the centre of public policy.
The Programme encourages and supports active participation in creative activity, particular but not exclusively through the arts and culture. The Programme is based on the belief that nurturing the creative imagination is crucially important for individual wellbeing, social cohesion and economic success, and that the best way to nurture the creative imagination is through active participation in creative activity.
The Programme is delivered primarily through existing structures – the 31 local authorities, the Arts Council, the Film Board, and relevant Government Departments, including my own. The Programme does not provide direct funding to artists or to any other creative professionals. However, in 2017, my Department allocated €1m to local authorities from the Creative Ireland budget to enable them to develop their Culture and Creativity Action Plans and an associated programme of events and initiatives in each county. This was bolstered by an additional €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. In total, the plans listed over 750 projects, events and initiatives taking place nationwide in 2017 of which an estimated 250 were directly attributable to the Creative Ireland Programme. Many of these projects, events and initiatives involved the work of creative professionals, including artists. However, it is not possible to say precisely how many artists received direct funding through this structure. In addition, my Department organised a number of Creative Ireland Programme elements as part of established festivals and events in 2017. Performers at Creative Ireland Programme launches and events were paid performance fees as detailed in the breakdown. It should also be noted that the Department, through RTÉ, supported a number of artists and creative practitioners as part of Cruinniú na Cásca.
All costs for 2017 including the costs for Cruinniú na Cásca, citizen engagement and all other activity is included in the breakdown of costs as referred to above.
