Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the witnesses who have come here today. I was struck by Ms McLaughlin's very visual description because it made me think about walking into the National Gallery and concentrating on the paintings. Could she let us know what we, as legislators, can do to make the arts more accessible? There is a role for the Arts Council regarding venues, but I am interested in hearing if there is a message for us in terms of what we can do.

The good thing now is that we are finally emerging from two years where everyone was denied a lot of aspects of the arts, except on a screen, but the fact that we can get back into venues again is great. What should we learn from the pandemic in terms of making some of our venues more accessible?

This question is open to whoever wants to take it. Ms Millar referred to going to gigs, but the other thing that is coming back is festivals. We are finally seeing festivals being opened up all around the country in various formats. What should festival organisers now be thinking about to ensure that they are more accessible?