Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I acknowledge the excellent work carried out by the cultural and arts institutions referred to in the motion. Their work in safeguarding our cultural and artistic legacies and in retaining these legacies in tangible forms requires great skill and professionalism. Their work is at the heart of securing the transmission of culture to new generations. I pay tribute to the staff of this sector for their remarkable curatorial and allied skills.

All this endeavour has a measurable economic by-product. Overseas tourists have a yearning to encounter and experience the artistic and cultural sensibilities, temperament and genius of this part of the world. This is why 3.5 million overseas visitors engaged in cultural and historical visits while in Ireland during 2008. I read with interest a recent report by The Heritage Council entitled The Economic Value of Ireland's Historic Environment. The key finding of this report was that our historical environment supports almost 40,000 jobs and accounts for approximately €1.5 billion in gross value added to the economy. Similarly, research by the National Campaign for the Arts shows that the total of direct and indirect employment supported by the arts and creative industries amounts to 79,000 jobs. Direct Exchequer revenue from the cultural and creative sectors in 2008 was approximately €1 billion. The Minister, Deputy Deenihan, is fully aware of these figures and of the economic value of the sector as well as the other values to which I referred earlier. No decision on the merger of arts and cultural institutions can or should be taken in isolation from these facts.

One glaring shortcoming is the treatment of our material culture, in particular our meagre efforts to preserve our technological and industrial past. I have raised this issue previously in the Dáil and with individual Ministers and stakeholders. I have worked for many years to build a partnership for the creation of a national railway and industrial heritage museum in the grounds of the great Inchicore railway works. I am pleased to report that Irish Rail, Dublin City Council and the National Museum of Ireland have expressed their support and they are beginning to work towards a plan for the realisation of such a facility. I hope the Minister and the Government will lend their support to this long overdue project. I believe that outstanding examples of our industrial crafts and great moments in our history of technological innovation are worthy of retention and celebration.

The notion that the Government has an ulterior motive in taking these necessary and difficult decisions is cynical. It reflects the selective memory of the Fianna Fáil Party, which is keen to use the arts and culture sectors to paper over its political shortcomings and short-sightedness. These decisions can only be properly understood in the context of the economic catastrophe in which a Fianna Fáil Government landed us and the disastrous blanket bank guarantee of September 2008 to which Sinn Féin added its signature.

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