Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Falvey for his presentation. The Department should be commended on being quite responsive to the mood among creatives. The night time economy is essential for the creative and cultural sector and the Department recognises that. The way in which Mr. Falvey's statement is laid out is helpful in terms of establishing the groups in Dublin City Council. We were told by representatives of Dublin City Council two weeks ago that the council had not set up that group. Is the Department frustrated about that?

Officials from the Department of Justice and Equality also appeared before the committee and when I asked them whether Creative Ireland had been in touch with the Department, I was told it had not been. Creative Ireland is an all-of-government initiative and it would probably be quite useful in terms of this issue given its spread across Departments. What role does Mr. Falvey envisage Creative Ireland playing in this respect? Did he watch the committee's proceedings two weeks ago and, if he did, what were the take-away points from that for the Department?

There is quite a focus on Dublin and our cities in the presentation but our rural towns are also being affected. I have noted a number of venue closures particularly in the south west of the island, one being the Hillgrove nightclub in Dingle, County Kerry, which has been a prominent venue in the Other Voices festival. It announced it will shut its doors, citing costs of licensing and insurance. Also, we had the recent closure of Connolly's of Leap in Cork, which was a previous Irish Music Rights Organisation, IMRO, Munster venue of the year. It is moving into the restaurant market and has cited unnecessary licensing issues. A venue in Clonakilty has mentioned licensing and special exemption order costs. Another venue is O’Riada’s in Macroom, which mentioned licensing and special exemption order costs. Also, in Kenmare and Tralee, people have nowhere to dance at night. There is a pretty extensive list of closures in the south west. The Minister, Deputy Madigan, has noted the issues these venues are facing in respect of planning, licensing and insurance. Does Mr. Falvey consider the current costs involved for venues to operate after standard hours such as the €410 on legal fees per night is a fair cost, especially given the current issues around insurance? Given that most venues face issues that have a legislative remit in other Departments, and this comes back to the Creative Ireland initiative, does Mr. Falvey have confidence there is an appetite in those Departments to make the necessary change that we need?