Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Nothing will happen before next month. What is planned for the overall body? There is general welcome for a new national opera company. Will the company be a cultural institution? Will it be funded directly by the Department rather than the Arts Council, which funds the existing companies? What will be the new company's terms of reference? Will the debt of Opera Ireland be cleared before the setting up of the new company? No new company wants to be set up with a debt hanging over it.

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