Emer Higgins
Question:89. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the main policy achievements of her Department in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54076/23]
View answerWednesday, 6 December 2023
Questions (89)
Written answers
As stated in my Department's Statement of Strategy 2023-2025, the mission of my Department is to lead the sustainable development of Tourism, Media and the Gaeltacht and promote participation in the Culture, Arts, and Sports sectors and the Irish language, supporting social progress, and enhancing cultural and economic growth across Irish society.
My Department implements policy to ensure the achievement of this mission and details on all of the recent policy achievements of this Department can be found in my Department’s 2022 annual report (www.gov.ie/en/publication/7153c-annual-report-2022/) and Statement of Strategy 2023-2025 (www.gov.ie/en/publication/502f6-statement-of-strategy-2023-2025/).
Working with Minister of State Thomas Byrne and Aire Stáit Patrick O'Donovan we are continuing to make significant progress across all areas of our Department's brief. Some of the key highlights of the many initiatives and policy achievements across the Department are set out below.
Tourism
• I am continuing to progress the development of a new national tourism policy framework that will seek to mainstream sustainability – environmental, economic and societal – across the entire tourism sector. The new framework will shape how our tourism industry develops in the period to 2030. Following initial consultations with key stakeholders earlier this year, I will shortly launch a public consultation to give the public the chance to have their say. I hope to have the new policy framework finalised in the first quarter of next year.
• I secured continued additional funding for overseas marketing of Ireland as a leading holiday destination in 2023.
• €7.6 million in Shared Island funding has been secured for a new brand collaboration project linking the Causeway Coastal Route and the Wild Atlantic Way.
• €7.75 million in Brexit Adjustment Reserve funding has allowed Tourism Ireland to put in place a marketing strategy to retain business from Great Britain, increase the numbers of EU visitors in Ireland to reduce dependence on the Great Britain market and drive greater market diversification.
• €3 million was allocated to Tourism Ireland this year to promote regional access to Ireland in overseas tourism markets through initiatives like the Regional Cooperative Marketing Access Scheme which seeks to encourage new access and maximise the potential of existing services to the regions. Co-operative marketing activities during 2023 (up to Quarter 3) to date achieved at least a 10:1 return on campaign investment.
Culture
My Department’s Arts and Culture programme aims to promote and develop Ireland’s world class artistic and creative strengths at home and abroad, maximising their societal and economic value for the country, and supporting the Arts and entertainment sectors to develop and grow. There has been sustained investment in Arts and Culture in recent years. Some of the highlight initiatives in 2023 are as follows:
• I have secured an increase in the ceiling on donations of cultural and heritage goods to the national collections with tax relief being provided under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. The annual capacity of the scheme was increased from €6m to €8m - the first increase since 2002.
• In February, the National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) (Amendment) Act 2023 was signed into law. This Act provides for the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra and RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, RTÉ Cór na nÓg and RTÉ Cór Linn from RTÉ to the National Concert Hall and the transfer of staff, property, rights and liabilities of the Orchestra and Choirs. The Act also amended the Broadcasting Act 2009 to reflect the transfer of function and responsibility from RTÉ.
• In June 2023, I launched a sectoral consultation for a new national policy framework on culture and climate action and, taking into the account the feedback from that consultation, work is ongoing to finalise the policy.
• Earlier this year, an Advisory Committee on the Restitution of Culturally Sensitive Objects in Ireland was established. The committee is tasked with advising the Government on issues related to restitution of historically and culturally sensitive objects in Ireland.
• In September 2023, I announced the establishment of an Advisory Committee on the Representation of Women and Women’s Stories within National Cultural Institutions and the National Collection. The Committee will be tasked with advising on the representation of women within the context of the NCIs and the National Collection, overseeing an audit of the National Collection and identify best practices models that can support the NCIs.
• The €1m increase in funding to €7.6million for Culture Ireland in Budget 2024 marked the highest level of funding for Culture Ireland since its establishment and will support more Irish artists to launch and develop their careers on an international stage. Culture Ireland operates a regular grant scheme to support Irish artists, generating jobs and creating new audiences for Irish arts, enhancing Ireland's reputation. Culture Ireland will continue to expand its schedule of international showcase activity in 2024, reaching 30 separate events in 2024.
• The Basic Income for the Arts scheme is a three-year pilot that I established as a research project so that an evidence base can be developed around the impact of such a payment to artists. this in turn which will inform future Government policy in relation to how Ireland supports her artists. In 2023, evaluation of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme began. This research will provide invaluable insights into how the provision of a basic income might impact on elements of an artist’s or a creative arts worker’s life. Three research papers were published this week analysing the data collected thus far.
• This year we have made significant progress across the 36 actions in the Report of the Night-Time Economy Task force, with some actions now completed. The recommendations of the Report of the Night-Time Economy Task force aim to support the overall economic growth of our cities and towns by providing employment opportunities, boosting tourism, and encouraging cultural development. We will continue to work with our Government colleagues to further the actions and to develop new opportunities within the Night-Time Economy in support of the Report’s recommendations.
• 2023 is the concluding year of the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012-2023. The Programme was supported with a current funding allocation of €5m that underpinned a broad and inclusive programme of events and projects delivered by Government and the National Cultural Institutions, the local authorities, institutions of learning, the Arts Council, RTÉ and a range of other creative and cultural partners. The overall programme was very well received by stakeholders over the last decade and is considered to have successfully delivered on its objective to mark, and commemorate appropriately, the key historical period leading to Ireland’s independence and the foundation of the State.
Gaeltacht
• Following the completion of the Programme for Government commitment to review the process of appointments to the Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta, legislation is currently being drafted to provide for the return of Údarás na Gaeltachta elections.
• Under the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021, the statutory Irish Language Services Advisory Committee was established on 20 June 2022. The overall responsibility for the preparation of the National Plan for Irish Language Public Services falls on the Committee. A number of significant provisions of the Act were commenced last year.
• With the intended commencement of all these provisions before year-end, all substantive provisions of the Act will have been commenced a year ahead of schedule, as set out under Section 20(3) of the Act.
• An tAire Stáit O'Donovan is working towards commencing Section 4 and Section 5 of the Act before year-end, and to commence on the same date, Sections 12, 13 and 14 of the Act, which relate to the establishment of the Coiste Logainmneacha (Placenames Committee). We hope to commence Section 16 of the Act, which will amend the Juries Act 1976. Under this provision, summons notices issued to people to serve as a juror will be done so bilingually and indeed this has already begun, owing to close collaboration between this Department and the Courts Service on the matter over the last year or so.
• Work on a new Strategy for the Language-based Arts and an associated investment package for the sector has been advanced significantly during 2023 while Ealaín na Gaeltachta Teo. published its 2023-2026 Strategy in Q4 2023.
• Significant new investment was made in developing the language in our schools in 2023, including in excess of €2m for the expansion of the Gaelbhratach programme and the extension of the Languages Assistants Scheme to statutory Gaeltacht Service Towns and Irish Language Networks.
Sport
• Minister of State Byrne launched the National Code of Conduct Template for Irish sports, which sets forth a set of guidelines and principles that promotes the behaviour and conduct expected from athletes, coaches, parents/guardians, supporters, referees/officials, and club members, regardless of the sporting environment.
• Minister Byrne and I progressed the development of the first National Swimming Strategy, which is due to be published in Quarter 1 of 2024.
• 2023 also saw continued progress towards greater gender equality in sport including female representation on the boards of sporting organisations with overall female representation now standing at 41% and for first time there is female representation on the board of every funded sporting organisation.
• Minister Byrne and I were also able to deliver a doubling in annual funding for in Sport Ireland’s key Women in Sport programme in the recent Budget which will increase from €2 million to €4 million from next year.
• Minister Byrne also launched a new, multi-annual Social Innovation in Sport programme to develop innovative social inclusion programmes through the use of sport and physical activity, with a specific focus on individuals at risk of social exclusion and poverty.
• We are continuing to support the hosting of Major Sports Events in Ireland and to explore further hosting opportunities. This is evidenced by the Government’s support for events such as the US College Football Classic every August from 2022 – 2026, the hosting of the UEFA Europa League Final in 2024 the Europa Cup Final in 2024, the Ryder Cup in 2027 in Limerick and the EURO 2028 football championships, which UEFA recently announced will be held in Ireland and the UK. In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, a high level policy paper has been drafted and is currently being finalised. The policy will help to inform which events we will target in the future.
• A new round of the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) was launched in 2023. This round of the SCEP closed for applications on Friday 8 September. A preliminary examination of the submitted applications demonstrates that the Programme has again generated a large number of applications and it is evident that the total number will exceed the previous record of 3,106 applications submitted under the last (2020) round.
• Minister Byrne and I announced additional funding of €37.6 million for the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Programme (LSSIF) this week, which will see 27 individual projects benefitting, bringing the total awarded to date to Large Scale Sport Infrastructure funded projects to €124 million. We have also announced our intention to open a new round of this fund in the first half of 2024.
• A significant policy development in the area of sports capital is the requirement for future grantees to have an access policy in place that ensures similar access for females and males to facilities funding by either the SCEP or the LSSIF.
Broadcasting and Media
• Further to the publication of the Future of Media Commission report in July 2022, Government established an Implementation Group to develop an Implementation Strategy and Action Plan to give effect to the accepted recommendations. The Plan was published in January 2023.
• Separately, a Technical Working Group was established to consider options for the reform of the TV licence system. The Group has concluded its report and I have given a firm commitment to address the long-term funding of public service broadcasting within the life-time of this Government. Discussions with relevant cabinet colleagues are ongoing in this regard, and a decision will be taken after the two Expert Advisory Groups appointed by Government following the issues which arose in RTÉ earlier this year, have concluded their work.
• A key recommendation from the Future of Media Commission’s report is a new regulator to underpin an enhanced regulatory and developmental framework, which is key to supporting the future development of the media sector. This new regulator – Coimisiún na Meán – was established on 15 March 2023 under the provisions of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, 2022. I secured funding of €7.8m to support this work in 2023.
• The Future of Media Commission recommended the establishment of a new Media Fund to provide support for the provision of public service content by the wider media and journalism sector at local, regional and national levels on a platform neutral basis. The Media Fund is being established on an administrative basis, and I have secured €6m for the implementation next year of the first two Schemes under the Media Fund, namely the Local Democracy and Courts Reporting Schemes.
• In September, I launched Cúla4, TG4’s new Irish language television service for children and young people, which follows a period of sustained investment in TG4.
Over the next period, we will continue to invest, legislate and deliver policy and funding for these important sectors, which provide critically important services in our communities, and are integral to our economy and our society.