Disincrease for the arts in budget (Thursday 6 December 2007)
There should be a word for an increase that is effectively a decrease - 'disincrease', maybe? In the government budget announced yesterday in Dublin, the Arts Council has been awarded a 3% increase, taking its funding to 82.1 million euro, well shy of the 100 million it was seeking; the amount is also below inflation, and so amounts to a decrease.
Oddly, the press release from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism mentions a "doubling of the touring fund to increase access to arts and culture"; the 'Touring Experiment' is a recent Arts Council initiative. It is unclear whether the extra funds to this initiative come out of that 3% - if they do, then other areas get even less than 3%.
The Arts Council is probably now in a very unenviable position. Earlier this year its 'RFO' clients were very unhappy with the across-the-board increase allocated to them of 3.9% for 2008; now, it seems, the non-RFO clients will be even less happy.
In an e-shot just after the budget, Theatre Forum puts the increase in Arts Council funding at less than 3% (2.6% or 2.7%), but it does say, "On the plus side, there are unconfirmed reports that the Arts Council will receive a top up of €3 million to its budget this year."
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