Written Answers - Arts Council Funding.
Willie O'Dea
Ceist:
92
Mr. O'Dea
asked the
Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht
if he intends increasing funding to the Arts Council; and if he will establish an alternative scheme whereby each artist gets a minimum wage in view of the fact that most artists are excluded from any type of State support.
[3904/95]
Batt O'Keeffe
Ceist:
93
Mr. B. O'Keeffe
asked the
Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht
if he will make additional funding available to the Arts Council.
[4020/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 and 93 together.
Since my appointment as Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, I have secured an increase of some 60 per cent in funding for An Chomhairle Ealaíon/the Arts Council, from £10.161 million in 1992 to £16.25 million in 1995. This Government is committed to a planned approach to the development of the arts and I propose to continue my dialogue with my colleagues in Government with a view to the implementation of the recently-published Arts Plan 1995-1997 in the minimum time period possible.
I have no plans at this stage to establish an alternative scheme whereby each artist gets a minimum wage. There are a number of schemes in operation at present from which artists can receive support. These include the bursary and award schemes operated by An Chomhairle Ealaíon, which are open to all artists in the disciplines of visual arts, music, dance, drama, literature and film, and range in value from £1,000 to £3,000.
In addition, and uniquely, the Irish Government does not levy income tax on the earnings of individual artists from their creative work. Many artists avail of this exemption which is operated by the Revenue Commissioners and it is my understanding that taxation foregone under the scheme is in the region of £1.5 million to £2 million per year. The Deputy will appreciate that this represents a direct subsidy to creative artists working in Ireland. Finally, the Aosdána scheme provides to its qualifying members an annual subsidy of the order of £8,000 to allow them to concentrate full-time on their work. Members of Aosdána who are in receipt of such a subsidy — called the Cnuas — may not have any work other than their art. The membership of Aosdána is limited at any one time to 200 and currently the membership stands at 144. Of this number, 84 are in receipt of the Cnuas.
I should also point out that artists are not excluded from State services and may avail of services on offer from Departments such as Social Welfare, Health and Enterprise and Employment in the same manner as all other citizens of this State.
