The Irish music and culture organisation, Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann, is to receive €1.45m (€1,448,000) in 2016 from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. 

This is the same amount received in 2014 and 2015. 

The figure was included in a ‘Service Level Agreement’ document that was published on Comhaltas’ website this month. The purpose of the agreement, which includes 33 separate points, is to ’formalise the relationship’ between the Department and Comhaltas.

The document includes a range of stipulations that relate to distribution of the grant among Comhaltas branches, annual accounts, bank accounts, staff remuneration, venues run by the organisation and more.

Comhaltas has to ensure that all funding is ‘distributed to CCE events and branches across the country including Cultúrlann na hÉireann and central operational costs at national level.’ It must also provide ‘details of each and every bank account held by CCÉ’. Furthermore, it should undertake to ‘review, reduce wage and salary compensations to their employees and maintain changes in line with changes made across the public service, which is a requirement from organisations dependent on state grants.’

According to the new document, the organisation must comply with ‘the highest standard of transparency and accountability’, which includes ‘the publication in… annual accounts, in bands of €10,000 of staff remuneration package salaries… where they exceed €60,000 per annum.’

Further stipulations state that ‘details of members of the Board of CCE’ should be available on its website. A full list of its Ardchomhairle has been recently published on www.comhaltas.com.

The Department has also asked Comhaltas to provide to the Department ‘for publication’, statistics for the Scrúdú Ceol Tíre examinations.

Furthermore, the organisation is required to maximise ‘the use of CCE centres which were funded or part-funded by the Department, and when not in use by CCE they should be made available to voluntary and community groups at cost.’

The document is signed by Labhrás Ó Murchú, Ardstiurthóír of Comhaltas, and Mary Nash, Principal Officer of the Department.

Income
In 2014, as well as the Department of the Arts grant, Comhaltas received €231,222 from the Department of Foreign Affairs, bringing its total state income that year to €1,679,222.

According to figures recently published by the Charities Regulatory Authority, Comhaltas’ income in 2014 was €2,356,713. Its expenditure in the same year was €2,402,338.

For full details of the Service Level Agreement, and the Ardchomhairle, see below.