Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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12. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will outline funding opportunities to support cultural development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24303/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I am pleased to be able to say that this Government has done more than any other in our history to support culture, the arts, artists and creatives. The levels of funding we've provided, the breadth of our stakeholder consultations and our response to the needs of the sector demonstrate the Government's understanding of the contribution arts and culture make to enhancing all of our lives.

My Department’s Arts and Culture programme aims to promote and develop Ireland’s world class artistic and creative strengths at home and abroad, maximising their societal and economic value for the country. Since 2020,

• funding for the Culture programme in my Department has grown by over 90%
• funding for the Arts Council has grown by 68%
• funding for Screen Ireland has grown by 88%
• funding for Culture Ireland has grown 65%
• we have the new, highly innovative three year €105m Basic Income for the Arts Research Programme
• funding for National Cultural Institutions has increased by over 50%
• we are supporting the provision of new artist workspaces in Dublin City and elsewhere.

In this context, the National Cultural Institutions Capital Investment Programme is enhancing our cultural infrastructure.

There are also important funding schemes for other cultural regional infrastructure as well as continued increased investment in Screen Ireland. Much of the nationwide infrastructure of venues and arts centres used by the professional arts were initiated and funded by local authorities. This network receives ongoing support from the Arts Council with capital spending provided through my Department.

In addition, the all-of-government Creative Ireland Programme 2023-2027, led by my Department, seeks to enable each citizen to realise their full creative potential. In conjunction with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, over €37 million has been provided to local authorities from 2018 to 2023 to the 31 local authorities to empower and support community-led participation with €7.5 million allocated for 2024. In implementing their respective 5-year culture and creativity strategies, many local authorities have utilised their funding allocation to promote the expansion and appreciation of the arts in their local area.