ARTS AND CULTURE: BETWEEN NOW and 2014 there will be a total cut of €76 million to the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
For 2011, that figure will be €26 million, but where cuts will be made across the three sectors will not be clear until budget day.
The proposed savings of €76 million will be made in three key areas across the next four years. Reductions are due in the grants to sporting bodies at national and local level, and to the Arts Council and other as-yet unspecified “cultural activities”, while there will be a refocusing of the way money is spent on promoting tourism.
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sports Mary Hanafin said despite the cuts it was hoped to increase visitor numbers to the country by eight million by 2015.
“We will complete the refurbishment of the historic wings of the National Gallery, the upgrade of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and the upgrade of the National Museum on Kildare Street.” There was no mention of the proposed new National Concert Hall.
There were few specific cuts identified, but one of these was to the artists’ exemption from income tax, which was originally introduced by late former taoiseach Charles Haughey. Since 2006 it has been capped at €250,000, and it now goes down to €40,000.
“The Arts Council has always regarded the artists’ exemption as a unique and enlightened piece of legislation,” council press officer Seán MacCárthaigh said yesterday. “We are glad the Government have retained it in some form at a time of such significant challenges for the public finances.”
But Visual Artists Ireland, a representative body and lobby group, said the move would damage the sector. The Government should encourage visual artists rather than penalising them “for wanting to contribute to Ireland’s cultural identity”, the organisation said.
Poet and founding member of Aosdána Anthony Cronin said it was a pity the cap was as low as €40,000 because the earnings from a book could represent three years’ work. However he was more concerned about the impact of possible cuts in the arts budget effecting direct subsidies and payments in the forthcoming budget. Some well-known artists “would have to simply give up” if this happened, he said.
This year the Arts Council received a total of €68 million – a figure which will fall in December. Mr MacCárthaigh had nothing else to say about any other cuts to the arts, other than they were waiting to see the breakdown of figures in December.
He did, however, point out “that the demand for Arts Council funding from individuals and organisations this year has gone up right around the country, just as the money available to us has decreased”.
Regarding TG4, which is funded through the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, there will be a reduction of €6.2 million from exchequer funding.
However, the shortfall will be made up from the RTÉ licence fee. This year, TG4 received €32 million in funding. Director general of TG4, Pól Ó Gallchóir, admitted yesterday it was “worrying times” for the station.