Mr. Philip King:

The Senator spoke about the current political situation in the world. I hear more and more that as the habits of partnership that we have with our nearest neighbours become strained and a bit more adversarial, that pipeline of cultural diplomacy between the two countries, working together over and back, is a useful and powerful way of continuing a human engagement in those times of stress.

There is a significant capital budget at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Buildings need to be maintained and national cultural institutions need to be maintained. However, artists do not live in those places; their work lives in those places, sometimes when they are dead. We need to look after the humans. The capital side is necessary but the other side of the column is essential because, without that, there is no art to put into these places.