Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their work and their presentations today. I direct my comments to Ms Walsh in respect of her opening statement. I note she spent much of her opening statement talking about the future. I know much of the discussion today has been about the present and the Covid pandemic, but I wish to focus on the fact Ms Walsh touched on the future and what is required for the sector in terms of the public spaces and the arts centres themselves. Without those public spaces, we do not have places for our artists and performers either to go on stage or to use for gallery purposes.

In her opening statement, Ms Walsh called for more long-term and strategic planning in terms of funding for arts spaces. I ask her about her current experience. She touched on how funding differs between local authorities. I ask her to outline her current experience and the model that she is calling for.

Many arts centres are companies in their own right. I must mention the Solstice Arts Centre in my home town of Navan, which I opened as mayor in 2006, and is one of the finest in the country. I pay tribute to Belinda Quirke, the director of the centre. The centre is lucky to have seen many home-grown artists such as Brian Byrne. His work resulted in the Irish film premiere of "Albert Nobbs" being performed in Navan. The RTÉ Concert Orchestra has also often performed at the centre.

I know it was a battle in the early days to make sure we got the proper funding strands from budgetary operations.

Now that it has been established, it is growing year on year. What are our guests' experiences in that respect nationwide? I would not necessary pull the model apart but what is the model they are potentially considering?