Hildegarde Naughton
Question:26. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the Galway 2020 project; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47305/18]
View answerThursday, 15 November 2018
Questions (26, 43)
Catherine Connolly
Question:43. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 21 of 21 June 2018 and 2811 of 24 July 2018, when the performance delivery agreement in relation to the contribution of €15 million to Galway 2020 will be published; the details of the agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47422/18]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 43 together.
In December 2014 the Government decided that Ireland should exercise its right to nominate a European Capital of Culture for 2020 and committed in principle at that time to provide €15m to the selected project. Galway's designation as European Capital of Culture 2020, along with Rijeka, Croatia, is a great honour for Ireland and a wonderful opportunity to strengthen and promote our culture nationally and internationally.
The Government's support of €15m represents the largest single contribution to the overall cost of Galway 2020 as the European Capital of Culture. The Government's contribution is provided as part of a suite of co-funding arrangements to deliver the programme outlined by Galway 2020.
A performance delivery agreement for the provision of the €15m grant to be paid to Galway 2020 was drawn up by officials of my Department, in consultation with Galway 2020, and signed on 6 November last. The performance delivery agreement addresses the roles and responsibilities of the Department and Galway 2020 in the provision and expenditure of the grant, as well as the key deliverables and performance indicators attached to the drawdown of the grant, and monitoring and reporting arrangements.
As the Deputy is aware, the annex to the performance delivery agreement contains a list of projects under the Galway 2020 Programme allocated funding by my Department. These projects will be announced at a showcase event for Galway 2020 this evening and I intend to publish the full performance delivery agreement, together with this annex, on the Department's website, after the projects have been announced.
Galway 2020 is now moving into the delivery phase of the project. Patricia Philbin – the Project Manager for the bid phase of the project – took over as CEO last month, while the team also now includes cultural producers, with expertise across the art forms.
The showcase event to be hosted this evening, and to be attended by my colleague in the Department, Minister of State, Seán Kyne, will be also an opportunity for the public to hear about some of the key projects and events that will take place under the Galway 2020 Culture Programme, as well as find out about and become involved in the volunteer and partnership programmes for Galway 2020.