Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This will depend on what budget the Department will have. I note huge improvements were made over the previous ten years but, unfortunately, as is evident in the Estimates, there has been a dramatic reduction since 2008 in the funding made available to the national cultural institutions. However, I am very much aware of the importance of providing funding for improvements. There may be different ways of approaching this question but I will do my utmost, within the tight budgetary constraints in which the entire Government must operate next year, to ensure the national cultural institutions will not be neglected. In addition, I intend to examine other ways of trying to encourage funding for the institutions. I will refer to this point later during my contribution to the statements on philanthropy.

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