Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I will start with the 1916 commemorations. I was not a Deputy at the time, but would the Minister agree that the centenary of 1913, for example, seemed to be virtually ignored by the State and the Government in terms of working-class history in this city? Will the role of James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army, for example, or the international context of 1916 be featured? The latter is very important in the sense that it was seen as an anti-war revolt as well. Given what we have seen so far by the Government, as has been mentioned before, will big business be featured in these commemorations in a way it should not be? For example, I did not know Google was in the GPO, but it seems it was if one looks at the first Government event held, which featured Google more than the Proclamation.

There has been no change whatsoever in the arts budget, despite the Minister's statement that the arts are very important in Irish life. She gave a quote about artists being the bedrock of our culture. I was contacted by an artist in my own constituency who was not impressed that all of the €4 million increase in funding was going to 1916. I agree with him, because it is two years away. Artists must work on a day-to-day basis. He made the point that they do not have heating for their studios, they cannot afford materials for their work, and they are at the pin of their collars. They had hoped this budget would signal an end to austerity for artists, but it does not. That was in an e-mail directly from a working artist. Everyone agrees with the artists' tax exemption, which allows people to work full-time as artists without being crippled with tax, but would the Minister not consider differentiating between the Bonos and the people on the ground? It seems to apply across the board, even when people are multi-millionaires, and that comes across as ludicrous to any ordinary person.

This being the first chance we have had to interview the Minister since she was appointed, it would be remiss not to say that her start was inauspicious in relation to the IMMA controversy. She should acknowledge that people saw that as being extremely negative and that it seemed the Government was using cultural institutions as playthings. I hope this signals the end of that. In addition, the Minister mentioned that she was setting up something in Cavan-Monaghan, which I think is her own constituency. Perhaps she can clarify that.