After his election earlier this year, the Taoiseach made a commitment to double funding for the arts and culture over the coming years. It was an imitation of a pledge made by his good friend, Justin Trudeau. It created great hope and expectation across the arts community. Unlike his Canadian friend, the Taoiseach did not follow through on what he had said with a serious commitment in the budget. The chair of the Arts Council has described next year's allocation to the arts as a "huge disappointment". If the rate of increase set out in the budget is continued with, it will take another 21 years to achieve the Taoiseach's commitment to the arts. There is great uncertainty among the arts community at the moment. The National Campaign for the Arts has expressed concern about the focus in the Creative Ireland programme on publicity and marketing rather than long-term and sustainable policy change and investment.

Last year, the then Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs published a draft national cultural framework policy, known as Culture 2025. It horrified campaigners in the arts. After much pressure in this House - I raised the matter on Leaders' Questions - the then Taoiseach agreed to refer the framework policy to an Oireachtas committee before it was finalised. When the committee published its report in July of this year, it included 42 recommendations aimed at bringing about a shift in the Government's approach to arts and culture. As the all-party committee noted, "A policy without a clear definition of its objective is blind, a policy without legislation is discretionary and a policy without the necessary resources .... is paralysed." It is unclear whether the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, intends to pay any attention to the committee's report or to plough ahead with the initial framework she published last year.

We have no clear definition of objectives and no underpinning legislation, and I see none is planned in the legislative programme. We have no commitment to provide the required funding for its implementation. Does the Minister accept that the paltry increase in funding for the Arts Council was already committed to and that, therefore, in real terms, it is not additional money? Will he give a renewed commitment to double the funding for the sector over a five-year period? Will he give us a sense of when we can expect to receive a final version of Culture 2025 and indicate whether the recommendations of the committee in that regard will be heeded?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is an area in which the Government is very ambitious and, of course, it will take time to realise those ambitions. The publication of the Creative Ireland programme was a milestone. One of the lessons drawn from the very successful 1916 Rising celebrations was that we could celebrate and use our cultural heritage as a significant asset for the people. In that regard, I am very pleased that we are starting in the education area. With the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, we will start the Creative Children initiative this year, for which we have set aside money in the budget. The Minister has also set out an ambitious capital programme for the arts and culture this year which will be enhanced in the ten-year capital programme soon to be announced.

A scheme I funded before I left office.

It will be an investment in the long-term asset of the cultural base. On a year to year basis, as the Deputy knows, this has been a very difficult financial year. We did not have significant sums of money available to us. Nonetheless, the allocation to the Arts Council was increased by €9 million, while funding for the Irish Film Board was increased by 9%. Significant initiatives are being taken across the arts. The ambition of the Taoiseach is that we should develop along the line of strategies, in particular the Creative Ireland concept, whereby we view the arts as an important asset for the people and a major part of the way in which young people are educated. There is a commitment to the arts which has been matched on the capital side and, in so far as is possible, the current side. It will be backed up by the ten-year capital programme for which I know the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, has very ambitious plans.

That is simply not a fact. There is no getting around the fact that the commitment to double funding over a set period raised expectations among the arts community which were dashed when no additional real money was allocated to the Arts Council. If the Government is serious about this, it should not make commitments and then state there are particular constraints in a given year. It should set out in clear terms the timescale over which arts funding is to be doubled. When will the 2020 vision for the arts be debated in the House? Will the recommendations of the all-party committee be reflected in the revised document?

I am sure the Business Committee will be very happy to arrange a debate on the issue. There is no doubt that the Creative Ireland programme, the context for development in this area over a number of years, sets out very significant ambitions which will be reflected in the capital programme. They include the ambition to support new art centres, theatres, galleries, museums and heritage centres, the sort of thing which can make a difference in the use and enjoyment of our cultural heritage. That is very much part of the Government's plan. To be fair, since 2014 the budget for the Arts Council has increased by 20%. I have no doubt that it uses the money extremely well to leverage activities, festivals, bursaries and so on across the artistic community. As to when we will make money available, the Taoiseach's ambition for the arts and culture sector will be a major feature of decisions made in future budgets.