Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know how much money was put into it. It is great that we are finally recognising our artists. I believe there is much more work to be done in this regard. I am using Cruinniú na Cásca as an example. As we have Ms Irvine here on behalf of the artists, I would appreciate it if she would speak about the value of Creative Ireland and Cruinniú na Cásca. I refer to the benefit to the artists. Large sums of money have gone into RTÉ and the Irish print media, etc. I would like to know what the artists are getting from all of this.

This is a very vibrant sector. As Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell has said, the arts are "fundamental to our heartbeat" as Irish people. It would be naive of us to think for a second that this issue is confined to the arts sector, or more specifically to the theatre sector. I hope that after these measures have been put in place and the regional meetings have happened, artists can be safe in their workplaces. I hope they can have a voice and a platform that enables any problems that exist to be addressed. As Ms Irvine has quite rightly said, this is all about valuing the arts and respecting artists. I think we are moving towards that by having everyone here today. It is a platform. We certainly have to put a huge value on all of this.