Answered on July 9, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the total spend on artworks in each of the past seven years by his Department and bodies under his aegis.

Reply from Minister Jimmy Deenihan: The three main collecting institutions under the auspices of my Department are the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Crawford Art Gallery.

Whilst my Department provides funding to the National Cultural Institutions, the Board of each institution is responsible for all operational matters, including acquisitions of artworks, and I do not have a statutory function in respect of such day-to-day matters.  

However, I am having the position regarding the total spend on artworks by my Department directly over the last seven years clarified and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy in relation to this matter.


Deputy Deasy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated value of artworks owned by the State, under the aegis of his Department, that are currently in storage.

Reply from Minister Deenihan: The three main collecting institutions under the auspices of my Department are the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Crawford Art Gallery.

Whilst my Department provides funding to the National Cultural Institutions, the Board of each institution is responsible for all operational matters, including storage of artworks, and I do not have a statutory function in respect of such day-to-day matters.  

I am having the position regarding the estimated value of artworks owned by the State under the aegis of this Department clarified and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy in relation to this matter. 

Answered on June 26, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of donations made to the National Museum of Ireland in the past ten years.

Reply from Minister Jimmy Deenihan: The National Museum of Ireland became a fully autonomous non-commercial semi-state body on 3rd May 2005 under the provisions of the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 and I, as Minister, have no statutory responsibility in relation to day-to-day operational matters including donations.

I have therefore referred the Deputy's question to the Director of the National Museum of Ireland for direct reply.

Answered on May 28, 2013 
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount of funding his Department has allocated, and to which projects, in Tramore, County Waterford in each of the past five years.

Reply from Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department was established in June 2011. The Department administers and delivers a wide range of programmes and measures, descriptions of which are available on its website at http://www.ahg.gov.ie/.

While expenditure under these programme areas takes place countrywide, it is not possible to give a town-by-town or county-by-county breakdown of that expenditure. For example, a number of my Department’s programmes are delivered through agencies and other intermediary bodies that operate across county boundaries and in respect of which there is no detailed breakdown on a county basis held by my Department. In addition, groups and organisations that receive grants directly from my Department are not necessarily constituted on a single-county or a single-town basis.  

In view of the wide range of my Department’s schemes and programmes, and the large volumes of payments and grants made on an ongoing basis, it is not feasible to compile and collate the breakdown of expenditure sought by the Deputy.