Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I can understand why it would take so long to collate information in regard to schools because there are 4,000 of them. I do not understand, however, why it took the council so long to collate information on art and culture facilities of which there are only 33. From an arts point of view, we will not have a complete picture because the council will deal only with local authority funded facilities. There are a large number of private ventures. We have information on the national cultural institutions. The audit will not include facilities such as private galleries which contribute to the arts. I accept the argument that the key issue now is to ensure these facilities can function and can be used to put on shows, attract audiences and improve participation. This is my major consideration leading into the budget discussions.

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