Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the clarification on the arts officers. I do not believe all local authorities have full-time arts officers; many of them were seconded to other duties. Perhaps the officials might come back to me on that.

I take the Minister's point on the Abbey Theatre. I would not expect any Minister to dictate the types of plays or artistic endeavours any organisation would undertake. However, she could give guidance. She said she expects that the Culture Ireland programme would reflect that, but that is not the case in a number of the organisations to my understanding and I have been working in the arts for a long time. It has certainly not been reflected in the Abbey Theatre for a number of years. I hope the new regime there will take it on board. I imagine the Minister can have a very positive effect in that regard if she speaks to them as positively as she did to us just now.