Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We said we would look at May for museums and galleries. We have indicated that when we come to the end of April, we will look at museums and galleries. This is a positive first step for the reopening of culture and arts. It is significant that this is happening in May. As I said, theatre is slightly different because it is enclosed seating. As soon as it is safe to do so, rest assured I will be looking for that. We have to go with public health advice on this. Based on the recent numbers it is looking more positive for us. I absolutely agree on the issue of rebuilding our cultural identity. We are a nation that has spoken so much about how much we value the arts.

We have all felt it and as we emerge out of this, it is not just a case of getting these cultural institutions reopened or performers back on stage but of supporting them beyond that and showing the intrinsic value they have to us and our very being as a nation. That is essential. I am absolutely determined to work with my Cabinet colleagues, performers and all stakeholders to identify the best way not just to support them but to really emphasise the value we place on our arts and culture, which have been so sorely missed in the past year. I do not know if the Senator caught the programme on TG4 for President Michael D. Higgins's birthday. It was wonderful. Every time I hear magnificent performances like that it brings sadness to me, as I think it does to everyone else, because it emphasises how much we miss hearing those performances and how we yearn to return to theatre or hear someone sing live, and more important, how that performer yearns to have that interaction with an audience again. My priority right now is the reopening of this sector as soon as possible but beyond that, it is working with colleagues like the Senator on identifying the ways we can show how much we as a nation value our arts and culture.