Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. The work that IMRO carries out rightly defends those involved in the music industry, whether writers or otherwise, who historically were probably taken for granted and got very little return for their creative work.

We all like to listen to music and pubs and other places like to play the music, but not many of them want to pay for it if they can avoid doing so. That is putting it bluntly, but I could be more sharp about it. The directors of IMRO include Mick Hanly and Eleanor McEvoy. Obviously, there is a very small population base and if a performer cannot break into the island off this island, it is quite limited in terms of earning a living, which is a pity for gifted people. IMRO's work is valuable.

I was thinking of the late Brian Friel the other day. A playwright or an author automatically receives copyright protection, but it is completely different for a songwriter in Ireland. I welcome what the delegate said about the task force, which is needed and I would be very supportive of it.

I have never liked the term "Irish music". I heard it mentioned the other night in reference to Hozier who is a fine singer and a very good songwriter. The same is true of U2. Let us face it - it is rock and roll, not the Kilfenora Céilí Band, of which I am a great admirer. I know that there are some very good céilí bands in Cork, but they are not as good as the Kilfenora Céilí Band which has been around for more than 100 years. I see Bono being praised for having a super group, but it is hard to beat a band that has been around for 100 years, which is what it has managed to do.

Others, including Senator Susan O'Keeffe, referred to the Sligo festival. Technology is everything now. The great thing about the fleadh in Sligo is that it has brought it into an urban environment. I came across people living in my estate who generally would not talk about traditional Irish music and who, because it was on television, as people do with their fingers when they are not texting, changed channels. It is amazing that in an urban centre, probably for the first time ever, music is fed into people's homes on their television screens and most are impressed by the number of young people who are playing. These young people from throughout the country are fine musicians and it is technology meeting what is our traditional music, which is very positive.