Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fíor fáilte roimh na comhaltaí ó Chomhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann agus gach duine atá anseo inniu. Tá suim agam sa teanga, i damhsa, in amhránaíocht agus i ngach rud eile mar sin agus is maith liom aon uair atá seans agam iarracht a dhéanamh iad sin a chur chun cinn. Cuidím freisin leis na moltaí a ardaíodh anseo inniu, go háirithe an moladh maidir le coiste a chur ar bun chun an t-ábhar seo a phlé. Aontaím le Danny McCarthy go bhfuil an scéal amach, go háirithe maidir le RTE, nach dtugtar play time do na nithe seo. Irish artists in general are raising the same question about play time on RTE because they are not getting fair play. Gay Mitchell MEP raised it in the European Parliament. He is from a constituency close to me.

It is up to us to make our own regulations. We like to keep our independence, particularly because of our culture and language. The same argument arose years ago around the Arts Council funding and grants. Approximately ten years ago, we separated the funding for Irish culture and the traditional arts. It is time that RTE did the same. Local radio stations give them more air time because it is easy for them. Mr. McCarthy made the point that country music takes over from Irish. I like both. I am not condemning one. I like traditional and folk music. A recommendation should go from this committee that the statistics should be separated out. We will ask RTE for the statistics. We also have them from Tourism Ireland but we need to get them from the horse's mouth and we should not let RTE get away with the title "Country and Irish".