Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We all strongly support measures to support the works of Irish artists and the creation of Irish art. Since I became Minister, annual funding for the Arts Council has risen from €100 million in 2020 to a record €130 million. This year, I launched the basic income for the arts pilot scheme, which will support 2,000 artists over three years.

However, the proposed amendment appears to be contrary to European Union law. The proposed criteria for Irish cultural works offered in the amendment includes residence on the island of Ireland and supervision or control by producers on the island of Ireland. Those criteria would appear to be incompatible with the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union guaranteeing freedom of establishment and free movement of services and prohibit discrimination based on nationality.

Notwithstanding the legal complexities I also have concerns regarding the practical implementation of the amendment. There is a potentially large outstanding catalogue of musical and audiovisual works that would be considered as Irish cultural works under the proposed amendment. The Arts Council would be required to devote considerable resources to assessing those works against the criteria suggested by the Deputy and providing certification. In the event of a rejection of a work for authentication by the council, there would also be a need for an appeals process. I fear that an attempt to implement this in practice would prove both highly contentious and time consuming with little benefit for Irish artists or art. For reasons of both legality and practicality, I cannot accept the amendment.