Mr. Eugene Downes:

Deputy Ó Cuív raised the question of venues. I have a couple of thoughts on that. Many of the venues throughout the country are not fully fit for purpose.

That is because in some cases the original designs may not have worked out as intended and needed to be revisited and changed in some way or the buildings needed some love, attention and evolution ten to 30 years after they had been built. The learning after operating any cultural venue for several decades is huge, not just in terms of ways to unlock more potential but also because the nature of the art made there or the changing nature of audiences or the local community will require the venue to change. Ensuring venues nationally are renewed in the way they should be, sometimes even in quite a minimal way, in terms of changing health and safety or other essential maintenance requirements, is not always done. That local part of the Project Ireland 2040 capital infrastructure plan will be vital. On new venues, the challenge is for particular places or art forms or types of work to have a strong case. It depends on the spatial dimensions and the demographics. The individual business case for a new venue must be robust and carefully tested for viability. For many venues, it is not just about capital but also a very realistic appraisal of the continuing operational overhead needs. There has to be a sustainable business model to do this in terms of the mix of income.

On funding and the role Members of the Oireachtas will play in the weeks ahead pre-budget, only a few years ago the challenge the sector often faced was trying to convince the different political parties and Independent Members of the benefits of the arts, be it the core public benefits, the intrinsic benefits to the individual citizen and collectively, the collateral benefits, socio-economic and otherwise, or the reputational benefits at home and abroad. For a long time that case was not necessarily accepted or only partially accepted in different ways by different parties or those in government. What is most unusual this year is that apparently both parties in government and others seem to share a genuine conviction that this case is accepted and bought into, not just on collateral socio-economic grounds but also in terms of the core role the arts and culture play in our society. If that is the case, we are on the edge of our seats in the sector to see the collective view of the Government in putting forward a budget, as well as the view of the Oireachtas in debating and voting on it and how that shared commitment in principle can be converted into a budgetary outcome next year. If there is no multi-annual commitment, even more will rest on the outcome in October for the year to come as it will be only a 12 month settlement. In the coming months the sector at constituency level, that is, a ground campaign, as well as an air campaign, will go individually to Members to see what we can do to help the Oireachtas to come to an outcome on the budget in October.