Bernard J. Durkan
Ceist:66 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the extent to which he has formulated policy in the various areas of his portfolio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22393/03]
Other Questions. - Departmental Strategy Statements.
Government policy for my Department is articulated in An Agreed Programme for Government and the key goals and objectives aimed at delivering this policy are set out in my Department's statement of strategy 2003 to 2005, which is available on my Department's website. In pursuit of these goals and objectives I have, since coming into office, under taken a number of major initiatives in relation to the three sectional areas for which I have responsibility, which I will now outline.
In the arts and cultural institutions area, the Arts Bill has been enacted and a new Arts Council has been put in place. The Arts Act gives me, as Minister, responsibility for the promotion of Irish arts within and outside the State. My Department has engaged an expert consultant to propose strategies for the effective discharge of this function, and my policy in this area will be informed by his report, which is expected by the end of 2003.
The Arts Council is now a smaller body than was previously the case, with the emphasis placed on the ability of members to work for the arts sector as a whole rather than to represent any particular sector or art form. I have introduced a "rolling" membership, whereby half of the members will be changed every 30 months, instead of potentially having a complete change every five years. The Arts Plan, prepared by the Arts Council, is based on principles that I accept, and I will continue to support the council in pursuing these principles.
The Government has recognised that the existing premises of the National Theatre are inadequate for its long-term needs and in this regard I have received Government approval for the invitation of expressions of interest from private sector developers who may wish to participate in the project on the basis of a public private partnership. My Department is working with the Office of Public Works and the Department of Finance to implement this decision.
An Agreed Programme for Government gave a commitment to finalise the long-term strategic development of the National Concert Hall. My Department, together with the Office of Public Works, is engaged in exploratory discussions with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority regarding the availability and potential suitability of a site in the Grand Canal Dock area of Dublin to which the National Concert Hall might be relocated. These discussions are ongoing.
In the area of sport, the National Aquatic Centre has been completed on time and on budget. I have continued to facilitate the provision of sport and recreation facilities on a nationwide basis through the operation of the sports capital programme and the delivery of the local authority swimming pool programme.
I am currently examining a report received from the Office of Public Works in mid-September on a joint IRFU-FAI proposal for major a stadium development in Dublin and will bring my proposals to Cabinet for decision shortly.
I have met the chairmen and boards of Horse Racing Ireland, Bord na gCon and the Irish Sports Council to discuss aspects of policy formulation for their respective sectors for the next few years.
Additional InformationLast week, I launched the most comprehensive review of Irish tourism policy carried out in more than a decade. It sets out a new strategy for the development and growth of Irish Tourism for the next ten years plus an action plan to implement that strategy. I provided increased funding this year to enable Tourism Ireland Limited expand marketing overseas of Ireland as a tourist destination.
The National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003 was signed into law by the President on 13 April 2003 to provide for the establishment of the new National Tourism Development Authority, under the terms of which Bord Fáilte and CERT were dissolved and the new authority known as Fáilte Ireland put in place. In May 2003, I announced the membership of the authority, designating 28 May 2003 as its establishment day. Fáilte Ireland is focusing on the experience of visitors when they get here, by working closely with the tourism industry to provide a one-stop-shop for strategic and practical support to develop and sustain Ireland as a high quality and competitive tourist destination. It is doing this by, inter alia, building capability at all levels within the industry, continuing to develop and promote the critically important home holiday segment and providing support for the six regional tourism authorities.
In light of the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government and following a consultative process with promotional, tourism industry and other bodies and consideration of various financing operations, the Government agreed in principle to the provision of a national conference centre by way of a leasing arrangement through an open competitive procurement process. In accordance with the terms of the Government decision, I established a high level steering group in July 2003 comprising representatives of my Department, the Office of Public Works, Fáilte Ireland, the Department of Finance and the National Development Finance Agency to oversee this procurement process. The work of the steering group is ongoing and it is expected that a notice, seeking expressions of interest in the provision of a centre, will issue before the end of the month.
I am satisfied that I have made significant progress on the development of the sectors for which I have responsibility and that I will have delivered on Government policy commitments by the end of the Government's term of office.
I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. I was beginning to get worried by his replies to parliamentary questions. He seemed to feel that the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism was a detached body over which he had overall authority, but no influence. Of the various programmes the Minister has just listed, which ones are active and which are dormant, and what are the reasons?
All the strategies I outlined to the House are active at present. In the cultural and institution side, the Abbey Theatre and the National Concert Hall are both being advanced. In tourism, the national conference centre is being advanced and earlier I outlined my proposals on the national stadium. They would be the four major capital projects under the Department's remit. For at least some of these there is agreement that they will not form part of the public capital programme, but will be built by the private sector. For example it is intended to ask the private sector to tender for the national conference centre and the same is true of the Abbey Theatre. There has been no decision on how the National Concert Hall or the National Stadium might be funded.
As the Cathaoirleach of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, I congratulate the Minister on the new Arts Act and the developments on the aquatic centre. The provision of the lottery grants around the country is making a major impact. While there are distinctions between tourism, sport and recreation there are also several interlinking areas. Has the Minister looked at the possibility of tying up the cross-departmental aspect of the many policies in his Department? For example, we sell films, theatre and arts events as important tourist destination points and we sell cultural tourism to people who want to experience Ireland, but these are actually the arts. Is the Department doing enough to link what is going on in tourism with arts and sports and to tie the three aspects together? Would that be a worthwhile policy development within the Department? Can we hope that the arts plan will gain the funding this time around that it possibly did not receive in the last Estimate?
What is the position of the report on sporting facilities nationwide? There is a major problem about such facilities benefiting the underprivileged areas and we do not seem to get sufficient returns from that.
What is the Minister's view of the waterways? Are they being developed to their potential? It does not seem so to me.
There is a very active management advisory committee within the Department implementing the Department's strategy whose meetings I attend. We are achieving the kind of synergy to which the Deputy aspires. Money for the arts in the coming year is part of the Estimate process which is continuing between me and the Minister for Finance. The Minister for Finance has been relatively kind to the arts. The budget for the Arts Council has increased by 80% since 1997 which is a considerable increase. There was a decrease last year of 7.5% which was regrettable and did cause difficulties. I hope we can do better this year.
Absolutely.
We are conducting an audit of the national sports facilities to see where there are gaps, how they can be filled, to ensure that there is a transparent process on expenditure, and that the money granted is spent on the projects for which applications were made. I agree with Deputy Wall that there are areas of disadvantage which require more attention and this is why RAPID and CLÁR areas receive special attention. As I said earlier, 58% of funding went to areas of disadvantage and the disadvantaged status of the region in question is now a criterion for the provision of grants to given areas. It is important that we try to build as many sporting facilities as possible for young people in areas of disadvantage and I accept Deputy Wall's sentiment in that respect.
The construction and improvement of waterways is a function of the Office of Public Works and of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I do not have any direct say in these matters. I agree, however, that it is desirable from the tourism perspective that these waterways are improved to the greatest extent possible because they are an attractive feature of our tourism infrastructure.