Ms Tania Banotti:

The Deputy's first question related to the Creative Schools programme. I have good news on that score. Not only is the programme continuing but because the schools were closed, additional days will be made available to the schools in the programme for those creative associates to work, and obviously it is paid work, with those schools to the end of December. There has been much talk about initiative overload in schools. I am happy to report that is not the case with Creative Schools. We extended the deadline to the end of June because of the pandemic and we have well in excess of the number of schools for the 150 places available. There is reference to a big expansion in the programme for Government so we are hopeful.

In terms of the librarians, we have a number of librarians who are the Creative Ireland co-ordinators for their local authority and they are a redoubtable group of men and women. We find, as does the Deputy, that it is about much more than the libraries themselves. They are involved in everything from the Ageing Well programme to Healthy Ireland. They are a civic amenity and they are thinking very creatively about what they are going to do.

In terms of the atrium, I am aware that the likes of Theatre Forum has been in discussion with arts centres in terms of what else they can do if they are closed or what artists feel they can do if those arts centres are not technically open to the public. I am not sure that there has been a resolution of that. I would estimate, and it is within the Arts Council's prerogative, that a significant amount of that €20 million will be going to building-based organisations for them to then be able to open the doors later. We are all thinking long and hard about atriums, how we can use the libraries and what we can do rather than what we cannot do.