Ms Maria Fleming:

Ms Angela Dorgan was my predecessor at the National Campaign for the Arts. She is referenced in my opening statement because she started the discussions with the joint committee and the commission on this. I have now taken over. I referenced Ms Dorgan's comments in my opening submission.

I thank the Senator for her questions. Of her two questions, one answers the other. If we had, as we are calling for, more extensive coverage of the arts across all media, they would then be front and centre. The other issues that come up would be addressed because we would be aware of them. The National Campaign for the Arts is calling for parity of representation of arts with, for example, sport in Ireland. Across the period of the pandemic, we saw the real need for the arts and how everybody turned to that. People went to books, poetry, film and music to survive the difficult times we had over the past number of years. People had a new appreciation for the arts. We know their value and how important they are. We would love to see, as part of news coverage, what is happening in the arts being covered at the same time as the section on sport at the end. The arts make it into the news when there is something like 14 nominations for the Oscars or the opening of the Dublin Theatre Festival, but there is enough activity happening across the arts year-round for which we could have more coverage. If people were more aware, including government at local and national level, some of the issues we are addressing, such as space for the arts and making sustainable career paths for artists, would be more front and centre. To answer the Senator's question, the two things go hand in hand.

I draw the Senator's attention to our pre-budget submission, which I can circulate again to members. A significant section of it looks at space for the arts, which includes some of the questions she raised. Is enough being done? No, but thankfully we offer solutions in our pre-budget submission. We have some ideas and suggestions. It is an area about which we would like to talk to the committee regarding ideas we have. The more we have exposure to the arts for everybody through more media attention, the more people will become aware and will value the arts more, and some of the issues we are struggling with when it comes to supporting the ecosystem will be more front and centre.