Vol. 477 No. 2
110 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he has satisfied himself that the National Gallery has sufficient moneys to operate, particularly to purchase new acquisitions; the submissions, if any, he has received in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8885/97]
The National Gallery receives funding on an annual basis from Vote 43 of the Estimates for the Public Service. It has in recent years benefited significantly from increased Exchequer funding. The annual Vote for non-capital operating expenses has increased from £1,044,000 in 1993 to £1,840,000 in 1997, an increase of 76 per cent over the period.
As regards new acquisitions, the National Gallery receives an annual grant-in-aid for the purchase and repair of pictures, also from Vote 43. The art acquisition budget has increased from £100,000 in 1993 to £215,000 in 1997, an increase in excess of 100 per cent over the period.
Recent purchases by the gallery with the acquisition grant include works by Jack B. Yeats, Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Francis Danby, Augustus John and George Mullins. The gallery makes annual requests for increased funding in the context of the multi-annual budget framework submissions and the annual Vote Estimates process, as do all the cultural institutions within my Department's remit. Of course I would like to see significantly greater resources available for all these cultural institutions but Government funding is finite and must be tailored to competing needs.
The gallery has access to other funds in addition to the voted amounts already referred to for the purchase of pictures, namely, the Lane Fund and the Shaw Fund.
In addition to these funds the gallery is one of the cultural institutions to benefit from donations made with the benefit of tax relief under section 176 of the Finance Act, 1995. In this regard, the Jack B. Yeats archive valued at £400,000 by the Revenue Commissioners, which was owned by Ms Ann Yeats, the artist's niece, was donated by her to the gallery in 1995.
