Dr. Martina Moloney:

I thank the Deputy. I will start on the museums. I will do a brief introduction and I will answer the questions insofar as I can. I will then invite Ms Teehan to respond. Museums have been a core part of the work of the Heritage Council for as long as I have been aware of the operations of the Heritage Council. I will comment on the work of the museums standards programme for Ireland, MSPI, which the Heritage Council operates. There are now 59 museums nationally, ranging in size from small, local community museums, to some of our larger cultural institutions, that are participating in the museum standards programme. That programme has been a wonderful success in professionalising the service, as well as ensuring that we guarantee the protection of the collections going forward. The Heritage Council is ambitious to continue to be involved in this area and to expand its role. Certainly, the programme supports many people in the museums sector. Some of our ambitions for the future include the digitisation of some of our museum pieces, so that they can be accessed both nationally and internationally, and so that we can ensure that we are protecting the heritage of Ireland in our museums going forward. We will ensure that the training is available for people working in that particular sector also. That is where we add particular value.

The Deputy mentioned Fáilte Ireland. Fáilte Ireland is a key body with which we collaborate on an ongoing basis. Obviously, we are fortunate on the board of the Heritage Council to have a representative from the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum, one of the key national museums in the country. He brings wonderful expertise and learning to the role and to the work of the Heritage Council. His name is Dr. J. Patrick Greene and we are happy to have him with us. There is always more that can be done, as the Deputy says. Our ambition going into 2022, which is reflected in our budget for 2022, is to support additional funding for the museums sector. I will hand over to Ms Teehan.