Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me in at this point as I have to leave this meeting at 2.30 p.m. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers.

I have a number of questions for the Minister. Where is the creative industries roadmap, as promised in the programme for Government? The Creative Ireland website states that Creative Ireland has been working throughout 2019 to finalise the roadmap. Where is the roadmap as promised most recently in the programme for Government? When can we expect a plan for the future of Creative Ireland, which concludes in 2022? I raised that issue with the Minister when she last appeared for the committee. We have not yet seen any progress on the plan for Creative Ireland.

Yesterday, I had a Commencement matter on a digital legal deposit taken in the Seanad. The Minister will be aware that we are losing our country's memory at an alarming rate. We are creating a black hole in our country's memory because the National Library of Ireland does not have the power to sweep the .ie domain and nobody in government appears to care that we are losing Irish web records at such an alarming rate. Where is the leadership on this issue? Under the Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Act 2019, the Government was required to bring forward a feasibility report on establishing a digital web archive within 12 months of the passing of that Act, which occurred in June 2019. It is well and truly more than 12 months since then. Why is the Government breaching the Act and breaking the law in not bringing forward that report? When will we have a digital legal deposit so that we can protect our country's memory for current and future generations?

The Minister will be aware that the committee has been working on gender representation and a safe and respectful working environment in the arts for women. I am conscious that funding allocated by the Arts Council on one hand is contingent on policies and procedures in regard to dignity and respect being in place. The Arts Council awards marks to applicants and applicants are assessed on how they demonstrate awareness and understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion. That is just a small sample of what the Arts Council requires of its funding partners. What does the Minister's Department require of funding partners such as Comhaltas, whose representatives appeared before the committee recently? What conditionality does the Department place on organisations in receipt of significant public moneys?