Mr. Feargal Ó Coigligh:

Between 2018 and 2024, the Department sanctioned an increase in staff from 47 to 146 in the Arts Council. That is a trebling of staffing resources in a small number of years, so I think the Department was very responsive. In respect of the chair writing to the Department and complaining of slow responses, there is an obligation also on the chair, in his annual letter with the accounts, to inform the Minister if there are any issues. At no point during this process did the chair of the Arts Council inform the Minister of the difficulty of this project, which is an obligation under the code of governance.