Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will finish with a comment and a message for the Arts Council, for the Minister and for my colleagues in government. I am a member of a party that is part of the coalition. We had a session in November that was attended by representatives of Mise Fosta and Fair Plé. I chaired that session. It was one of the most emotional sessions that I can recall attending. We had women telling stories of sexual harassment that they experienced in the traditional music scene. It was appalling and horrifying to hear this. Clearly, we are not moving with enough pace in terms of implementing the suite of changes that the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has suggested. There other things that are not part of the suite of changes like the statutory gaps that have been mentioned and the reporting mechanisms. I am not asking any questions, but saying that the clear message we need to send from this committee is that we need to act. It is four months since the report was established.