1591. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the progress on the Programme for Government commitment to provide affordable spaces for artists to work and collaborate. [60463/26]

As outlined in the Programme for Government, the Government believes that culture and the arts are essential to a well-rounded society, providing opportunities for education, expression and community engagement.

In regard to artists workspaces, my Department operates the €6 million pilot Artist Workspaces Scheme which was launched in June 2024. Under this scheme, local authorities outside Dublin City Council are invited to propose projects which enable them to provide additional artist workspaces in their regions on a sustainable basis and produce fit for purpose workspaces. Funding of up to €300,000 is available for densely populated local authority areas and €150,000 for other local authorities. To date, six local authorities have been allocated funding of over €1.2 million over seven projects, for the development of up to 25 artist workspaces. Three further applications from local authorities have been received and are currently being assessed and I hope to make announcements on these very soon.

In Dublin City, the Department has allocated a specific €3m in funding to 'Space to Create', an initiative that aims to provide up to sixty artist workspaces in Dublin City, and these projects are currently being progressed in partnership with Dublin City Council.

More broadly, a network of cultural infrastructure exists throughout the country which facilitate a wide range of artists to exhibit and perform, with the majority in the ownership of local authorities. Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to this arts and culture infrastructure by local authorities and the Arts Council. My Department focuses on providing capital grant funding to assist development and to maintain these arts and cultural facilities through a number of funding programmes, most recently Stream E, which provided grants of up to €50,000 for capital works and equipment. Stream E has now closed for applications.

In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, my Department was allocated €6m in Budget 2026 for a new programme of capital funding for arts and culture organisations across the country. This will see much needed capital supports for arts and culture organisations. My Department is in the process of designing the specifications of the scheme, including the setting of eligibility criteria.