Ms Deirdre Masterson:

On the question regarding what should be the take-away for members, as legislators, from this discussion, musical theatre is not acknowledged as an art form in its own entity. That is the real problem here. When it comes to arts funding, it is getting caught between two stools. Opera, dance and theatre are funded. There is a clear structure and application forms set out what the requirements for those are, but that is not available for musical theatre because it is not acknowledged or respected. That needs to happen. If one asks any sort of search engine what is the most popular form of theatre at any box office, it flashes up that it is musical theatre. It is a gold mine we are not availing here and it is time that we got musical theatre as an art form in its own entity.