Ms Garry Hynes:

I wish to make exactly the same point as previous speakers. Let us consider one small thing: "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett. We made that piece of theatre two years ago. It played in our theatre in Galway, which seats 100 people. It played for two weeks. Luckily, it was not enough. Everyone else wanted to see it. The arithmetic of that made no sense whatsoever. It requires a subsidy of €40 to €50 per seat for Irish people to see it. If that was where it had ended, that would be simply an example of why subsidy is required in the making of theatre, but that was not where it ended. The last performances were at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to an audience of 700 or 800, who were all guests of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. They included heads of mission to the United Nations from all over the world. They were there as part of the process whereby the Department was attempting to gain a seat on the UN Security Council. It is precisely the same point.

I wish to address the Senator's remarks about the problems at the Abbey. It is a problem that I am, unfortunately, only too aware of having been artistic director there over 30 years ago. I thought long about this during my time there and I have thought about it subsequently. Essentially, it is a problem of governance.

The board of the Abbey must lay down narrative and agree a purpose, role and function with the major stakeholders, including the Minister, the Arts Council and various other bodies. Once that is done, it will be the context in which the artistic directors are appointable and to which they are held accountable. It is crucial that the Abbey has sectoral responsibilities, which is why the letter was such a bombshell last week. As it receives 50% of the performing arts funding in this country, it has sectoral responsibilities over and above other organisations in training, development, health and what it pays people, and it must be part of the narrative of governance of the organisation.