Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

The Minister has compared the figures for 2002 and 2008 and it gives the impression of a very substantial increase. However, the comparison of figures for 2007 and 2008 shows a modest €2 million. The Arts Council has requests for funding of more than €130 million. It is therefore a long way short of what the council needs in order to deliver on its programme.

The key point is the need for multi-annual funding. The Arts Council must book an orchestra or an international opera star two or three years in advance. It is extremely difficult for the council to do this if it cannot guarantee the funding in advance. This is at the heart of the need for the multi-annual funding, not to mention the layers of bureaucracy that go with having to repeat its application annually.

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