Vol. 495 No. 3
25 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the moneys available for investment in arts and culture by her Department in 1998; the procedures involved and her views in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19708/98]
A total of £18,752,000 has been made available in Vote 42 of my Department in 1998 to help fund various cultural institutions operating under my aegis and some other cultural projects. The primary breakdown of the amounts allocated are set out in subheads B, C1, C2 and C3 of my Vote under the heading "arts and culture".
Subhead A provides for pay and administration expenses totalling £5,050,000 for the National Museum, National Library and the National Archives. Subhead B provides payments to match resources generated by these bodies by way of grant-in-aid. In 1998 this is estimated to be £850,000.
Subhead C1 provides general expenses for cited key cultural institutions under my aegis. In 1998 the amount has been set at £6,034,000.
Subhead C2 provides for the allocation of grants to other cultural institutions and projects. Under this heading annual grants are made to the Irish Manuscripts Commission, Irish Architectural Archive, Marsh's Library and the Hunt Museum. Capital moneys required for the equipping of the Chester Beatty Library at Dublin Castle's clock tower are also comprehended under this subhead as is a grant towards the development of a furniture conservation service being established in Letterfrack. In 1998 the subhead C2 amount has been set at £3,018,000.
Subhead C3 provides funding for capital projects approved for grant assistance under the cultural development incentives scheme, CDIS, and also the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery. In 1998 the amount allocated under this heading is £3,800,000.
The amounts to be allocated under each heading are arrived at following appraisal within my Department of the financial submissions made by each of the institutions and projects involved and in the light of the outcome of the annual budgetary process.
