Vol. 513 No. 6
365 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the level of funding granted to the National Heritage Council in 2000 and in each of the past three years; and her views on whether this funding is sufficient in relation to the demands on the council. [3278/00]
Details of allocations to the heritage council for the period 1997-2000 are as follows: 1997, £3,501,000 – includes a supplementary estimate of £509,000 in December 1997 to clear outstanding grants; 1998, £4,000,000; 1999, £5,080,000; 2000, £5,740,000.
While I recognise that additional funding could be used to good effect by the heritage council in carrying out its statutory functions under the Heritage Act 1995, the annual funding provided to the council has increased by 92% since I came to office in June 1997.
In addition, I recently announced a special once off allocation of £750,000 towards the restoration of Ballyfin House, which will be administered by the heritage council. This will result in an adjusted figure for the current year of almost £6.5 million in funding for the heritage council, which will be reflected in the revised Book of Estimates to be published shortly.
