Mr. Séamus Mac Cormaic:

I thank the members for listening to us. I was at the Galway fleadh in Castleblakeney and it a very enjoyable event. Deputy Michael Kitt raised the issue of funding. Any injection of funding that a Comhaltas unit gets towards running a fleadh - whether it be a Comhaltas branch or a county that is running it - from a local authority or from the State, Comhaltas is able to magnify 20 times. In other words, if somebody provides funding of €1,000 for Fleadh Cheoil na Gaillimhe to be held in Castleblakeney, such funding will back up the volunteer effort. If the volunteer effort is combined with the funding, we augment the funding at least 20 times over, maybe more. Our big strength is our volunteerism and without it our organisation and movement could not function as it does. The work of our volunteers is inspirational, including the professional back-up that is required, whether in the form of training or support. If we have to spend a significant amount of time fundraising to run events, it takes from the creative things we do, which we are very good at doing if we have the time to do them. Fundraising can be soul-destroying. We appreciate that the State has supported us significantly in recent years.

However, that was not always the case. There was a time, in fact, when we did not receive a shilling of State funding. Of course we would be delighted to receive more funding than we currently do but, in the present circumstances, we very much appreciate what we have. There are mechanisms for funding within many local authorities, including through the arts offices, where a certain level of funding is available. It is very limited but it is something. As times improve, we hope the level of funding will increase.

I assure the committee that whatever investment comes into organisations like Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is put to good use. We achieve a multiple of the initial investment in terms of outcomes. An investment of €1,000 or €2,000, for example, to a voluntary organisation such as ours can represent a potential benefit of hundreds of thousands of euro. Sin an focal scoir atá agam. Gabhaim buíochas don choiste as ucht bheith ag éisteacht linn.