The Arts Council has published a report entitled ‘Assessment of the Economic Impact of the Arts in Ireland’, which shows the estimated turnover of the Arts Council funded organisations and individuals in 2010 was €135m and it’s annual funding from the Exchequer supports over 2,600 jobs.
The report, commissioned by the Arts Council from Indecon International Economic Consultants also concluded that turnover of the organisations supported by the Arts Council determines their ability to purchase goods and services, to employ staff and to undertake programmes of investment. These functions in turn have an impact on the wider economy.
Total funding committed by the Arts Council to organisations and individuals amounted to €60.3m in 2010. The estimated turnover of the Arts Council funded organisations and individuals in 2010 as stated, was €135m.
The Arts Council own grant-in-aid has been reduced by €16.4 million or 20 percent over the four years, 2008 to 2011; there has been 400 jobs losses since the 2009 report and an associated loss of €13 million of VAT and other taxes to the Exchequer.
The arts sector itself supports 21,328 jobs and contributes €306.8 million in taxes.
The Arts Council of Ireland the national agency for the promotion and development of the arts in Ireland.
Chairman of the Arts Council, Pat Moylan said yesterday that “while the arts should not be evaluated solely on economic grounds, it is clear from this report that the sector is a financially important and labour intensive one”.
Mary Cloake, in an article published in the Public Affairs Ireland Journal before departing her position as Director of the Arts Council affirmed that the “arts are part of the fabric of our economy. They are a significant economic contributor in their own right and important building blocks for those economic activities. The arts underpin policies in cultural tourism; in attracting foreign direct investment; in the retention of an imaginative labour force; and in establishing an innovative milieu in which the creative and cultural industries can thrive”.
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