Ms Sin?ad O'Reilly:

I am happy to respond on what happens in places where there is not infrastructure or investment. Through our strategy, Making Great Art Work: Leading the Development of the Arts in Ireland, we committed from 2016 to look at how we spatially invest in places that have not benefited from that type of investment over many years. Thankfully, we are progressing and expanding our creative places programme. We currently invest in 12 different places around the country. They are places that have not had infrastructure. There is plenty happening on the ground on a local level but they have not had the benefit of sustained investment. There are places like Athy and Darndale. There is a mixture of towns, suburban areas and very rural communities such as the west Cork islands. Towns like Athy, Edenderry, Bagenalstown, Tipperary town and Baltinglass are there are as well. alongside Darndale, Ballybrack in south Dublin and Mac Uilliam in Tallaght. We are working with Mr. McGlynn and Create Ireland on the pilot programme in Tuam and we have seen some fantastic impacts there that show what can happen when time and investment is put in on the ground. That project has connected with 51 community groups during its pilot phase and with 32 local businesses. We are also seeing what happens when the investment has not been there. It is easier, maybe, to engage with people who are engaged than the people who are not necessarily engaged and are perhaps more socially, culturally or economically isolated. It takes time to work with people like that and it is what we are keen to do. This investment over a longer time will reach more people in that way.