THE ARTS: Cuts in spending on the arts were announced by the Minister for Finance yesterday, with funding for the Irish Film Board reduced by 12 per cent. Arts Council funding was reduced from €47.6 million to €44 million.
The Minister for the Arts, Mr O'Donoghue, said the film board cutbacks "must be seen against a background in which the board's funding more than doubled over the five-year period 1997-2002".
He said the Government's commitment to the objectives of the third Arts Plan, published earlier this year, remained - but he indicated that the delivery of the plan would have to proceed within the confines of available resources.
The plan envisaged a phased funding increase that would raise the Arts Council's annual budget to almost €80 million by 2006.
The Minister also announced an extra €2.5 million for the Heritage Fund, to allow for new acquisitions by the collecting institutions.
The Arts Council's director, Ms Patricia Quinn, said the cuts in the council's funding represented a reduction of 8 per cent on this year's figure "and 22 per cent less than the target published in the national arts plan". She warned that the council would have to "look very hard at the funding proposals from the sector for 2003, which already amounts to more than €90 million".
Mr O'Donoghue stressed that the council's funding had risen significantly over the years, from €26.4 million in 1997.
The allocation for Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board in 2003 was announced at €10.737 million. This represents a reduction of around 12 per cent.
Mr O'Donoghue emphasised that the Government remained committed to the development of the film industry, with the Film Board having a strategic role in that process.
Mr Rod Stoneman, chief executive of the Film Board, said: "These are clearly tough figures, but they must be understood in the context of the severe reduction in public spending and a difficult economic climate overall.
"It is as a result of the serious work of the new Minister and the Department of Arts that there is continued support for the development of the Irish film industry. We indeed are committed to the delivery of our planned programmes within these parameters - they will be workable."