Ms Patricia Murphy:

The Department is relatively newly formed, and it happened after the change in Government in June 2020. From September 2020 on, various functions were transferred out and in. Although it is relatively new, there is commonality in the overall purpose of the Department with a view to citizen engagement in culture, arts and sport. There is also broadcasting and media, along with tourism. There is a commonality of purpose and the Department's functions sit quite well together.

As part of the Department's reconfiguration, it is very conscious of the need for the different sectors to "talk" to each other so that we can identify areas and have cross-cutting goals. There are a number of structures in place. The Department has an established strategic policy and projects unit where we look at various policies, provide policy advice and do evaluations. This cuts across all areas of the Department.

There is also the development of our statement of strategy, which was published last year. In that we have a series of cross-cutting goals in the area of diversity, equality, climate change, female participation and sustainability. There are goals and objectives identified all across these areas and common themes. The corporate division, where I work, brings the different sectors together to discuss what our goals and targets are and how we can all learn from each other. That is working well.