Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry for being less than present. The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill, dealing with the baptism barrier and other initiatives, is being debated in the Seanad, so I apologise for running in and out.

I lived in Galway for three years. Mr. Crumlish and Mr. Fahy are to be commended on the festival. I see on the discussion platform the issue of gender equality. Do all the festivals represented here have policies of gender equality to ensure we do not sleepwalk into something similar to what we have seen in the media recently on discussion platforms and so on?

I was also looking at the arts spend for Galway city versus Galway county per head of population. Mr. Fahy talked about 25% of programmes being free of charge and participation in them being a vital element of festivals. I think the spend per head in Galway city is €73 versus approximately €4 per head in Galway county. Perhaps Deputy Ó Cuív will clarify that. Is there a role for the festival in addressing this and people's participation across the county?

I support Mr. Crumlish's recommendation concerning supports for festivals to produce new work while also facilitating national pieces that perhaps have been produced by the Abbey Theatre. I saw "Loch na hEala", the Irish production of "Swan Lake". The only place I saw it was at Clonmel Junction Festival.

To come back to what Ms Barry said, the event took place in a gym hall.