Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2021
270. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if her Department has tracked the rate of closure over the years of live cultural venues nationwide; if initiatives are under consideration to address the matter; and if she foresees further closures after the lengthy disruption caused by Covid-19. [23649/21]
View answerI do not have responsibility for the collection of data on company closures in any industry or sectors and my Department does not have statistics on the closure of business premises such as commercial cultural venues. The closure of incorporated entities and businesses is a matter for the Companies Registration Office and the collection of statistics is the responsibility of the Central Statistics Office.
In terms of supports, I was pleased to allocate €50 million this year for a suite of measures to assist the live performance sector. €25m was allocated to Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS 2021) which closed for applications on 14 April 2021. This scheme is aimed at commercial venues, producers and promoters in the live entertainment sector. Over 400 applications had been received by the closing date and assessment of applications to the scheme is underway.
LPSS 2021 builds on the successful pilot Live Performance Support Scheme in 2020, which provided thousands of days of employment to hundreds of musicians, actors, crew and technicians in tandem with a pipeline of high quality on-line much needed entertainment for Irish audiences. The 2021 scheme is aimed at supporting employment and wellbeing opportunities across all genres and the continued production of high quality artistic output for the public.
Recent decades have seen the development of a nationwide infrastructure of venues and arts centres, many of which were initiated and funded by local authorities and the Arts Council. These centres are also supported through capital schemes largely operated by my Department. Capital funding schemes such as Cultural Development Incentives Scheme (CDIS), and the Arts and Culture Capital Enhancement Support Schemes (ACCESS & ACCESS II) were developed by the Department in the past in order to construct and upgrade existing arts and culture facilities. The CDIS allocated almost €30m to 38 arts and culture organisations throughout the country from 1994 – 1999. Funding of over €88.4m was allocated to 121 arts and culture organisations throughout the country under these schemes (ACCESS - €45.7m; ACCESS II €42.7m).The first and second Arts and Culture Capital Enhancement Support Scheme – ACCESS and ACCESS 11 – were administered by the Department from 2000 and 2006 respectively. They were designed to assist the provision of high standard arts and culture infrastructure and enhanced access to the arts throughout the country. The schemes prioritised the enhancement and maintenance of existing facilities, and accordingly 70% of the funds available were directed towards the enhancement and/or refurbishment of existing facilities. Projects supported included the provision of new integrated art centres, theatres and studio space and the refurbishment of existing performance spaces. It has been widely acknowledged as a significant intervention in the provision of quality cultural space throughout the regions.
Details of projects under both these schemes can be viewed at the following link:
https://wayback.archive-it.org/org-1444/20201009132526/https://www.chg.gov.ie/arts/creative-arts/projects-and-programmes/list-of-successful-access-projects/
Arts Centres in this context include a range of venues organisations funded by the Arts Council which can be found at this link http://www.artscouncil.ie/arts-in-ireland/arts-centres/links/. Support provided to these arts centres by local authorities and the Arts Council is critical to ensuring that a stable and vibrant network can be maintained. Capital funding schemes operated by my Department continue to be focused on enhancing this existing stock of arts and culture centres throughout the country. Recent capital schemes are being informed by the strategic Review of Arts Centres and Venues commissioned by the Arts Council and CCMA, as well as the Arts Council's published Arts Centre Policy and Strategy 2019, which sets out its funding criteria for arts centres from 2020 onwards. This review of arts centres and venues can be accessed at the following link-
http://www.artscouncil.ie/uploadedFiles/wwwartscouncilie/Content/Publications/Research_reports/Review%20of%20Arts%20Centres%20and%20Venues%20June%202019.pdf
