Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be as quick as possible.

I welcome the Minister to the committee and publicly congratulate her on her appointment. Rather than go through the live entertainment €50 million, I ask that the Department would give a briefing document to the committee which would then be on the public record because, as the Minister alluded to, there is no template from the past for this €50 million for live entertainment directly from the Department. It would be helpful. I have many questions about it. I am unsure about how the funding stream will operate. It would be good if a detailed document were provided to the committee.

I welcome the increase to the Arts Council. Many previous Ministers would have dreamed of giving that increase to the arts. I have spoken to a number of artists who have been knocking on the door of the Arts Council for years and have now finally got what I think they deserve. It could not come at a more important time. There can be no going back to previous Arts Council allocations.

With respect to the Arts Act and the arm's length principle, did Deputy Catherine Martin, as Minister, have any policy preference for where that funding would be spent?