Written Answers Nos. 516-525
516. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if it is policy that artists who engage with bodies funded in part or whole with public funds should be paid for their work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20517/19]
View answer517. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the oversight arrangements in place in her Department to ensure that artists are paid by bodies in receipt of public funds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20518/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 516 and 517 together.
Primary support for the Arts including visual artists is delivered through the Arts Council. The Arts Council is independent in its funding decisions under the Arts Act 2003. The strategic context for the Arts Council’s support of visual arts and all other art forms and areas of arts practice is set out in Making Great Art Work: Arts Council Strategy (2016 –2025) which is available on the Arts Council's website. This 10 year strategy describes how the Council will lead the development of the arts in Ireland over the next decade and has five priority areas: the artist; public engagement; investment strategy; spatial and demographic planning; and developing capacity. This strategy prioritises support for artists throughout their careers, by the involvement of many agencies in cultural provision, by the impact of the arts on the creative economy, and by the depth and breadth of people's engagement with the arts.
In determining the award of funding, the Arts Council includes as an assessment criterion, an organisation’s policy on the remuneration of artists. This helps to ensure that organisations in receipt of Arts Council funding offer fair and equitable remuneration to artists.
The Arts Council Visual Arts Policy & Strategy sets out how the Council plans to support visual artists over the next three years. This includes working with its funded organisations to develop principles and standards in relation to remuneration and working conditions as well as dealing with other challenges facing visual artists working in Ireland today. In addition, the strategy sets out how the Council will develop public engagement, progress specific development areas that are strategic for visual arts. The document can be accessed at the following link :
http://www.artscouncil.ie/uploadedFiles/wwwartscouncilie/Content/Research_and_Publications/Visual_arts/VA%20Policy%202019-2022%20PUBLIC.pdf
In Budget 2019, funding for the arts and culture sector increased by €22.6m to almost €190m which represents an increase of 14% on 2018. This funding comprises of €148.2m in current expenditure and €41.7m in capital investment. This includes an increase to the Arts Council funding by almost €6.8m or 10% to a total of €75m made up of €6m in current expenditure, which is more than double the increase in 2018. The vast majority of this money goes directly to artists and those working in the arts in Ireland.
In 2017, the Government launched a pilot initiative allowing visual artists and writers to apply for jobseekers benefit if and when they became unemployed. My Department is currently reviewing that pilot scheme with officials of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
518. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will publish the interim report she received regarding to the archaeological find at a site (details supplied). [20579/19]
View answer519. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the rationale for her comments in Dáil Éireann concerning the archaeological finds at a site (details supplied) in the context of the report compiled by the archaeologist of the developer that appears to differ from her statements regarding to the significance of the finds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20580/19]
View answer520. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her Department has had contact from South Dublin County Council regarding to the recent planning application for permission to clear land and carry out enabling works on a site (details supplied) in view of recent archaeological finds on the same lands. [20611/19]
View answer522. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views regarding the recent planning application pertaining to lands (details supplied) from an archaeological preservation point of view; if she is satisfied that a full-scale planning application that would essentially result in the lands on which archaeological finds were recently made being covered in their entirety by residential development is being actively considered by the local authority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20725/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 518 to 520, inclusive and 522 together.
Archaeological test excavations, licensed by my Department under the National Monuments Acts, were carried out on the site by privately engaged consultant archaeologists. Archaeological assessments are a normal part of the pre-planning phases of new development proposals. The objective of such assessments is to verify that an appropriate approach is taken in relation to any archaeological material that may be present.
The assessment in this case, comprising of a geophysical survey and archaeological test excavations, identified the presence of a subsurface archaeological enclosure in one area of the development site. In light of these findings, my Department subsequently approved a licensed excavation of the enclosure site in accordance with the provisions of the National Monuments Acts.
The excavation licence provided for the archaeological excavation and recording of the archaeological enclosure. While my Department received an interim progress report during the course of the excavation work, a standard condition of all such licences requires a formal report to be submitted to both the Department’s National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland setting out the results of the excavations and subsequent scientific analysis. The licensee is also required to publish a concise account of the excavation on the excavations.ie website.
The National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland will receive the preliminary report of the excavation findings in the coming weeks and a final report will be submitted in due course. I will be happy to share these reports with the Deputy when they are received in my Department.
Under the Planning and Development Acts, planning authorities also refer development proposals that may impact on archaeological heritage to my Department for comment so that recommendations may be made, as appropriate, to avoid or mitigate any such impacts. My Department has recently responded to such a referral in relation in this case and has asked for further information to be obtained from the applicant with regard to the results of the archaeological assessment carried out to date and of such further assessment as may be appropriate in relation to the work to which the planning application relates. The Department has also recommended that the applicant be asked to undertake an Ecological Impact Assessment and Bat Survey of the site. My Department will respond as appropriate on receipt of further information from the planning authority.
Any submission made by a prescribed body to a planning authority may be taken into consideration by the authority when making its determination on a planning application. The final decision is, however, a matter for the planning authority itself.
521. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of significant wild fires that have occurred in national parks since 1 January 2018; her plans to undertake a damage assessment of each of these wild fires; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20632/19]
View answerThere are six National Parks in Ireland – Killarney National Park, the Burren National Park, Connemara National Park, Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park, Glenveagh National Park and Wicklow Mountains National Park. As far as recent wildfires are concerned, two of the six National Parks have been affected since the 1st January 2018. These are Killarney National Park and Wicklow Mountains National Park.
There have been four significant fires within Killarney National Park since the 1st January 2018, three of which occurred in 2018 and one in 2019. Their locations are as follows:
The 2018 fires occurred in Doogary, Gallavally and Gortracussane.
The latest fire occurred on Torc Mountain in late March 2019.
11 significant wildfires have been reported in the largest of our National Parks, Wicklow Mountains National Park since the 1st January 2018 – seven in 2018 and four in 2019. The 2018 fires occurred in the following areas: Paddock Hill, Liffey Head, Lough Bray, Corrig Mountain/Castlekelly and Carraigeenshinnagh. In October 2018 there was a fire in Laragh East and in adjacent Drummin. It should be noted that some of these fires, namely in Liffey Head and Lough Bray, burned for weeks and were fought multiple times by hand, by water tanker and by heli bambi-buckets, although they are listed each as one fire. To date in 2019 fires have occurred at Maulin, Seefingan, Sorrel Hill and Ballydonnel South.
Regarding the damage assessment of the recent fires in Killarney National Park, operational field staff of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), generally survey and undertake assessments of impacts after each fire. The assessment procedures include mapping location/extent of the area affected, habitats affected, significance of impacts, and on occasion detailed surveys of e.g. breeding birds. Furthermore, NPWS is currently incorporating more detailed and systematic studies on the impacts of fires on the biodiversity of Killarney National Park into on-going scientific work there. As far as damage assessment is concerned, in each case, local rangers and management are aware of the extent and severity of the fire, as well as the habitats affected and inform future decisions on firebreaks, public awareness, etc. In respect of Wicklow Mountains National Park, the fires, whether in or out of the National Park are mapped as part of Site Inspection Reporting processes for SAC (special conservation area) and SPAs (special protection areas).
It is important to stress that with regard to our National Parks, on an on-going basis, officials from my Department are in close liaison with both the Gardaí and the Fire Service. My staff remain ever-vigilant when conditions exist that might result in fires in the National Parks. My Department will continue to work closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Garda Síochána, as appropriate, to investigate the causes of such fires on designated sites and national parks and, where evidence is forthcoming, to pursue appropriate enforcement under the Wildlife Acts or other legislation.
I would encourage members of the public, including landowners and recreational users, to act responsibly at all times, to be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, to be mindful of the need to protect property both publicly owned and privately owned, and to appreciate the value of our natural heritage, particularly in our National Parks, Nature Reserves and Designated Sites.
523. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated full-year cost of recruiting 16 extra ecologists for the National Parks and Wildlife Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20808/19]
View answerI am advised that, based on current pay levels, the estimated cost of recruiting an additional 16 full-time Ecologists for the National Parks and Wildlife Service would be €550,081 per annum.
524. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the legislation in place to protect wildlife habitats, with particular reference to tree felling; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20847/19]
View answerMy Department’s remit includes the conservation of habitats and species and this is achieved in part through the designation of Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Natural Heritage Areas under European and national legislation. Details of these conservation areas are provided in the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department at https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has overall responsibility for afforestation and tree felling licences under the Forestry Act 2014. That Department refers applications to my Department for comment where works are proposed in designated conservation sites and in the vicinity of such sites although, ultimately, it is a matter for the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine to make determinations on such works.
In a limited number of cases applications for felling of trees may be subject to my approval under the Wildlife Acts and the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011.
525. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the costs incurred by her Department in respect of advertising in all forms to date in 2019, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21119/19]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is not readily available. I will make the information available to Deputy in accordance with the timelines as set out in Standing Orders.
