THE REMARK by our new President Michael D Higgins in his inauguration speech that “many of the most valuable things in life cannot be measured” is instantly applicable to the arts. Their real value cannot be established by the criteria of the market place; their return to the exchequer is not the reason they are supported out of public funds, nor should it be. Their intrinsic value to the wellbeing of a healthy society transcends those balance sheet details beloved of the economist and accountant.
However, their impact is one that is in fact hugely beneficial to the economy, as this week’s Indecon report indicates. This latest assessment of their positive economic impact is one of several in recent years making the argument that the arts are, as Minister Jimmy Deenihan pointed out, “building blocks for those economic policies the Government has identified as crucial for our economic recovery”.
The report is timely in view of the pending budget which is feared by an anxious sector as one that will inflict further damage on organisations, venues and the lives of individual artists. The achievements of recent years in developing creative endeavour could be undermined or undone if levels of support are further eroded. The council’s cut in its State subsidy over the past four years – about 20 per cent – has already led to job losses. In 2008, its exchequer support was €81.6 million and last year’s 5 per cent cut in the council’s resources, albeit a modest one in the circumstances, brought the council’s funding capabilities down to €65.2 million – far below the €100 million that the council identified as adequate to sustain and properly develop a programme of cultural provision.
The Indecon findings estimate that the sector employs 21,000 people and contributes €306.8 million in taxes. The value of the return on arts spending has been well tested and the much-cited positive image of Ireland abroad which the arts help to create is probably beyond price. If those loftier arguments for funding the arts – their role in nourishing the soul of the nation – do not altogether convince the Minister’s Cabinet colleagues, perhaps these figures will give cause to consider the demands of the sector as not unreasonable.
However, they might also ponder those words of President Higgins when he said that “drama and song have helped us cope with adversity. . .our arts celebrate the people talking, singing, dancing and ultimately communing with each other.” We cannot afford to neglect replenishment of our cultural wealth.