Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. I would add that we will be judged on what we choose to remember and how we choose to remember it. Nothing horrific has been mentioned in what we choose to remember, particularly industrial schools, Magdalen laundries and all of that. Although it is uncomfortable, the uncomfortable stuff is important too, although I probably do not have to say that.

I completely agree with Mr. Starrett's comments regarding heritage. Irish people take great pride in it, as is evident in the 66 monuments that were found in Meath over the summer. There was a generous warmth online from all quarters in response to that. Before I continue, I want to extend solidarity to the archaeologists who are on strike at the moment. It is probably not a question for our guests but I want to extend solidarity to them. None of this would be possible without them.

I am interested in the strategic objectives in advancing national policy and engaging with policymakers to do so. If the Heritage Council has legislative priorities, I would like to hear them before we conclude, whether those are priorities for the years to come, amendments or specific legislation it believes should be worked on.

Another priority should be the need for a national storage facility for our cultural institutions. When artefacts are found or donated, it is unfortunate that so much is not on display. The National Museum has a major difficulty in keeping artefacts within its limited space. We saw something similar at the National Library during a visit by members of this committee.

In terms of the budget, we were treated to an array of announcements by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in budget week. All of the big ones were listed - the Arts Council, Screen Ireland and Culture Ireland, which was left to the end of the week because it was not as great an increase as the others. We were never informed by the Department of the increase to the Heritage Council because there was no press conference by the Department after the budget. What was the increase?