Written Answers Nos. 609-615
609. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding schemes available for museums for annual running costs and once off grant aid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26334/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department operates a Regional Museum Exhibitions Scheme in 2018, applications for which closed on Friday 15th June. This Scheme is designed to assist local, regional and specialised museums contribute to the fabric and meaning of the Decade of Commemorations through an exhibition programme for locals and visitors alike. This will allow local and specific interpretations of historical events and their legacy and of the multiple identities and traditions which are part of the Irish historical experience. Maximum grants under this Scheme are €15,000 and the Scheme has an allocation of €150,000 for 2018.
My Department also operates a operate a Scheme of funding support for small self-contained projects which seek to enhance, celebrate or commemorate the artistic, cultural, musical, film or heritage of the Island of Ireland on a North/South basis. The Co-operation with Northern Ireland Scheme 2018 is now closed for applications and replies to applicants should issue over the coming weeks. Maximum grants under this Scheme are €15,000 and the Scheme has an allocation of €175,000 for 2018.
My Department also has a scheme to support greater regional and local access to material held in the National Collections. The Scheme is designed to fund the transport, cost of insurance and exhibiting costs for pieces from the National Collections to appropriate institutions around the country, subject to lending criteria. The 2018 allocation is €25,000 for this scheme and letters to applicants will issue shortly.
These schemes are in addition to the Capital Support Schemes and funding for Arts and Culture organisations, details of which may be found on my Department' website at www.chg.gov.ie/arts/creative-arts/projects-and-programmes/capital-support-schemes-and-funding-for-arts-and-culture-organisations/.
For general assistance, museums should contact the Heritage Officer in their relevant local authority in the first instance.
610. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the measures in place to protect the five species of endangered turtles that live off the west coast in view of claims that they are being actively hunted and captured as domestic pets. [26355/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is responsible for the implementation of the legislative framework around the protection and conservation of species and habitats in Ireland, including the Wildlife Acts and the EU Habitats Directive.
There are no turtle species permanently resident in the seas off the west coast of Ireland. While 5 species of endangered turtles have been recorded in Irish waters, only one of these, the leatherback turtle can survive in the cooler temperate waters around Ireland. Consequently, it is the only species of turtle which Ireland reports on under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive.
During the summer months, small numbers of leatherback turtles forage in Irish waters before returning to tropical regions to breed. This species is protected globally by a range of international instruments, including the EU Habitats Directive and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and nationally by the Wildlife Acts. While the global conservation status of leatherback turtles is critically endangered, in Ireland it is classified as a species of least concern, meaning that there is no evidence of a population decline in Irish waters.
My Department has no evidence that leatherback turtles, which can reach over 2 meters in length, are being actively hunted or captured around Ireland. Likewise, my Department has not received any reports of leatherback turtles being kept as domestic pets.
Further information on leatherback turtles is available at https://species.biodiversityireland.ie/profile.php?taxonId=128443&taxonName=leather.
611. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount paid per project to a company (details supplied) since 1 January 2016 to date by year, amount and project name; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26386/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTotal expenditure of €178,981 was made by my Department to the company referred to in the Question. Details of this expenditure is set out in tabular form over the period requested.
2016
|
Year |
Project |
€ |
|
2016 |
Advertisements for NPWS staff vacancies |
10,228 |
|
2016 |
Advertising events, opening hours, etc., in National Parks |
652 |
|
2016 |
Advertising regarding SAC (Special Areas of Conservation) designations |
53,487 |
|
2016 |
Advertising Irish Raised Bog Restoration project |
7,537 |
|
2016 |
Advertising hedgerows notice |
4,043 |
|
2016 |
Advertising regarding NPWS zoo inspections |
1,047 |
|
2016 |
Total |
76,994 |
2017
|
Year |
Project |
€ |
|
2017 |
Advertisement of public consultations under Section 482 tax relief |
2,596 |
|
2017 |
Advertisements for NPWS staff vacancies |
9,280 |
|
2017 |
Advertising events, opening hours, etc., in National Parks |
2,690 |
|
2017 |
Advertising regarding airstrips in Gaeltacht area |
2,233 |
|
2017 |
Advertising regarding predator control in Shannon area |
334 |
|
2017 |
Advertising regarding curlew nest protection |
2,115 |
|
2017 |
Advertising regarding SAC (Special Areas of Conservation) designations |
43,813 |
|
2017 |
Advertising regarding Agri-Environment Scheme |
240 |
|
2017 |
Advertising regarding National Biodiversity Action Plan |
6,873 |
|
2017 |
Advertising hedgerows notice |
4,313 |
|
2017 |
Advertising hunting licences notice |
1,218 |
|
2017 |
Total |
75,705 |
2018
|
Year |
Project |
€ |
|
2018 |
Advertisements for NPWS staff vacancies |
2,403 |
|
2018 |
Advertising events, opening hours, etc., in National Parks |
584 |
|
2018 |
Advertising regarding SAC (Special Areas of Conservation) designations |
19,357 |
|
2018 |
Advertising NPWS staff transfer to new premises in North King St. |
1,916 |
|
2018 |
Advertising regarding SAC (Special Areas of Conservation) designations |
2,022 |
|
2018 |
Total |
26,282 |
612. Deputy Shane Cassells asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of public consultations held by her Department or by a State agency under the remit of her Department; the number of replies received per consultation; and the cost of each consultation in each of the years 2011 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form. [26457/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn light of the volume of information requested by the Deputy, arrangements are being made for this information to be compiled and forwarded to the Deputy, in accordance with the timelines set out in Standing Orders.
The deferred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
613. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive a payment from the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26478/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application for compensation under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme has been received by my Department from the individual referred to in the Deputy’s Question. With respect to 36 raised bog natural heritage area sites, the qualifying criteria for the scheme are that:
- The applicant must have had a legal interest (ownership or a turbary right (right to cut turf)) in one of these sites on 25 May 2010 and must have had the right to cut and remove turf from the property on that date;
- The applicant must have been cutting turf on the land in question during the relevant five year period up to 14 January 2014;
- The turf resource on the site has not been exhausted; and
- No turf cutting or associated activity is ongoing on the property.
The applicant was paid for Year 1 of the scheme (2014) in September 2014. I am advised that a report on an inspection of the plot of bog relevant to the application has recently been completed. My Department has since been in contact with the applicant and further information has been requested. On receipt of this information, the Department will then be in a position to process the application further.
614. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of funding for a location (details supplied); and the timeline for the work to be completed. [26685/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraLast year, my Department awarded a significant capital grant to the project referred to by the Deputy for the enhancement and refurbishment of this cultural venue. This grant was awarded under the Arts and Culture Capital scheme 2016-2018.
Officials in my Department are in active correspondence with the project developers in relation to the progress on the project. As with all capital grants from my Department, the allocation is managed under a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the project promoter. The SLA sets out a number of conditions around the management of the project including the period of time for drawdown of grant.
615. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the action she has taken to support and preserve spoken Irish; the further steps she is taking to ensure spoken Irish is recorded and preserved for the benefit of future generations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26768/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 represents the foundation stone of the Government's policy on the Irish language. In that context, by way of supporting the maintenance and development of the Irish language as a community and household language in the Gaeltacht, the implementation of the Strategy is recognised as a key priority in the Programme for a Partnership Government. The Strategy outlines an integrated approach to the Irish language, in which 9 areas of action are specified, including education, the Gaeltacht, the family, public services, the media, technology and the economy. The relevant actions under the Strategy are being implemented by the various stakeholders, including relevant Government Departments.
My Department is currently finalising an action plan for the period 2018-2022 which will contain specified strategic priorities for the next five years along with a timeline for their implementation. It is intended that this action plan will be published shortly.
In terms of directly ensuring that spoken Irish is recorded and preserved for the benefit of future generations, the Department has funded a number of projects in recent years which are relevant to this area, namely:
Logainm.ie - Sound Archive of the Placenames Branch
Logainm.ie is a comprehensive management system for data, archival records and placenames research conducted by the State. It is a public resource for Irish people at home and abroad, and for all those who appreciate the rich heritage of Irish placenames. The sound archive consists of the placenames recordings of my Department's Placenames Branch. It contains more than 1,200 hours of recordings made mainly in the 1960s and 1970s. The recordings were made in 24 counties and placenames were collected from more than 4,000 people during that period.
The audio material and its catalogue were digitised in 2009. As a result of that work, the audio and catalogue material are now available online for the staff of the Placenames Branch and for other researchers. In addition, the Logainm website has associated sound files which allow users to listen to the pronunciation of each placename in Irish and English.
Dúchas.ie
The Dúchas project, co-funded by my Department, with support from the National Lottery and University College Dublin, is the result of a partnership, beginning in 2012, between the National Folklore Collection in UCD, one of the largest folklore collections in the world, UCD Digital Library and Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, the Irish-medium teaching and research unit in DCU. The objective of the project is to digitize the National Folklore Collection and make it available to the public online. To date, almost 500,000 manuscript pages of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in the 1930s have been digitized and published on the duchas.ie website.
Last year, over 11,000 digitised photographs from the The Photographic Collection, were added to the site. The aim of the current phase of the project is to continue the development, digitisation and editorial work, focusing on the Main Manuscript Collection. The collection also has over 12,000 hours of audio recordings and 1,000 hours of video recordings in its archives, many of them in the Irish language. Most of the sound recordings are on tape but other formats are also included and it is envisaged that many of these will be digitised to ensure their ongoing preservation.
