I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 to 118, inclusive, together.
I can confirm that my Department has received correspondence on this matter and my officials have made a number of enquiries in relation to the issues involved and will be responding in due course.
I wish to advise the Deputy that matters relating social assistance schemes such as Disability Allowance, are primarily for the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. I also wish to advise the Deputy that my colleague, Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection addressed these matters on the 11 May 2021 and the written reply may be accessed at the following link
www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2021-05-11/535/#pq_535
Access to participation in arts and culture is one of the cornerstones of national cultural policy. Culture 2025 , published in January 2020, sets the direction for Government policy across the cultural sector, including the arts and the creative and audiovisual sectors. A number of key values underpin Culture 2025 including the right of everyone to participate in the cultural and creative life of the nation.
National Cultural Institutions also respond through their programmes to develop wider access including for people with disabilities. My Department will continue to work with the Council of National Cultural Institutions to encourage the development of access to all audiences.
Under the Arts Act 2003, primary responsibility for the promotion and support of the arts, including arts and disability, throughout the country is devolved to the Arts Council. The Arts Council is independent in relation to its funding and executive decisions. The strategic context for the Arts Council’s support of arts participation and all other artforms and areas of arts practice is set out in Making Great Art Work: Arts Council Strategy (2016 –2025). This strategy describes how the Council will lead the development of the arts in Ireland over this period. This strategy has five priority areas: the artist; public engagement; investment strategy; spatial and demographic planning; and developing capacity.
The Arts Council also has specific supports for artists with disabilities. The Arts Council’s Equality, Human Rights and Diversity [EHRD] Policy builds on a range of existing Arts Council work areas, developments and policies including an Arts & Disability policy , a Cultural Diversity and the Arts policy , and a Dignity at Work policy . The policy is published on the Arts Council website and can be accessed at the following link
www.artscouncil.ie/uploadedFiles/EHRD%20Policy%20English%20version%20Final.pdf
The Deputy may wish to note that all awards and schemes operated by the Arts Council are informed by the Arts Council’s ten-year strategy (2016–25), Making Great Art Work as well as the Arts Council‘s Equality, Human Rights & Diversity Policy & Strategy and Paying the Artist .
The Arts Council also fund a number of key agencies, who have a central role in supporting these areas of work including Arts and Disability Ireland as well as Create; Age & Opportunity and Waterford Healing Arts Trust.