In July 2019, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht announced new, significant measures aimed at increasing funding through the Per Cent for Art Scheme. See https://www.chg.gov.ie/minister-madigan-announces-measures-to-significantly-increase-funding-for-public-art/
The government scheme which is connected to capital budgets for public infrastructure (such as schools, flood relief programmes, housing, hospitals etc) will see changes to the bands and limits. This means significant increased funding will be made available to commission artists across all art forms and will ensure that the investment in public art projects will be closer to one per cent. Previously the maximum available to commissioners no matter the value of the capital project was €64,000. Please see table below for the changes announced.
Current capital cost/band | Current max limit | Proposed capital cost/ band | Proposed max limit |
|---|---|---|---|
€0–€2.55m | €25,500 | €0–€5m | €50,000 |
€2.55m–€6.3m | €38,000 | €5m–€20m | €125,000 |
€6.3m–€12.7m | €51,000 | €20m–€50m | €350,000 |
€12.7m + | €64,000 | €50m + | €500,000 |
Additional changes include the re-establishment of an inter-agency group to improve information gathering and collation and sharing of best practice on the Per cent for Art Scheme. This group will also link in with the Arts Council and seek to enhance the Council’s existing advisory role in relation to the scheme. The new limits and bands will apply from 1 January 2020.
