Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to join the committee. It is not my usual committee and I thank the members for accommodating me. I thank the witnesses for their wonderful presentations and for the work they do all the time.

I will pick up on one aspect of the bigger picture before moving to more specific aspects. The analogy of agriculture which was given could be built on further if we look past agriculture to the ecosystem. When we think about the arts, it is important that we do not focus on the predictable outcome, the tallest tree in the forest or the one with the sweetest fruit because it may well be that excellence may not be in a form that will be financially rewarded or even politically or socially welcomed. Rather, we must recognise all of those parts. It was described eloquently in terms of the experiences of every person who touches in on an exhibition, sends a picture of his or her classroom, goes to a show, is moved by something somewhere, reads something written on a bench or whatever it is. The full picture of the community creates an ecosystem of creativity, imagination and culture. The dividends for that are immense but they are hard to understand. The one idea I would quibble with is that of the entrepreneur because the benefit can be isolated. We need to see that the benefit often arises elsewhere. We know the significant financial dividends to be gained from the arts that have been described, and we know about them in areas such as tourism.

The case of proposition E, which was recently passed in San Francisco, is an interesting flip of the bed night analogy. A levy on bed nights was put into a general fund for public art because the environment generally created by art in the city was recognised. It was interesting although I know we need direct central funding as well as that kind of levy. The benefit is also seen in science, creative thinking, relationships and difficult conversations, such as in the Magdalen laundries, where many tough issues did not come through until they were faced and confronted through the arts.

It also makes for better politics. The international power and considerable impact Ireland has through the arts, as well as how we have made our mark in our founding moments and in presenting ourselves to the world, were eloquently described, but it is important to note that power is also recognised in the inverse. Around the world, when we see bad politics and the rise of authoritarianism, the arts are one of the first areas to be restricted. During the dictatorship in Brazil, the first thing to be banned was a little instrument, based on a turtle shell, which was used in folk music. Paulo Freire, Augusto Baol and others created the Theatre of the Oppressed, as part of what is targeted by those who wish to curtail the imagination. At this time, when many resources are being focused on a narrowing of perspectives and the cultivation of fear, connections that challenge through the arts rather than divisions are immensely important, globally necessary and possible.

On a practical note, like others I come from Theatre Forum. I arrived late to the meeting of the committee because I was speaking at Theatre Forum's annual meeting. I was reminded of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, which expressed the idea that actors and performers are often treated like their characters, and that artists come into a glorious bloom when they are needed for special occasions but then disappear between those occasions. While we have described the importance of the arts for full humanity in a society, we must also recognise the full human lives of artists. This is about an increase in funding, as was said clearly, but it is also about how the funding is spent. There is something to be said for examining how we do our procurement and contracts in order that employment is strongly considered from the beginning. Local authority funding was mentioned. The centres and venues, which are a great resource, need to be resourced further to allow them to become sustained employers. Will the witnesses comment on that and on how we can build in progression? Artists in Ireland move between employers very often. How is it charted that artists move up rather than start again with each new scheme and project, that progression is built in, and that a pay scale that works across the sector rather than just within one institution?

On social protection, I know there is controversy about the scheme. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection and I await the report of the culture committee to bring it before the social protection committee. Within the social protection system, there is a deep lack of understanding of what it means to craft a life in the arts. It can be quite punitive for artists, who often live in fear and scrutiny. While the social protection system should not be a safety net, reward or hand-out, it should be a recognition of the contribution everybody makes and one of our mechanisms of redistribution for the public good.

There is not much time remaining but if the witnesses have any thoughts that I could bring back to my committee, I welcome them. Otherwise, I am happy to follow up separately.