Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A reference to alternative venues is unnecessary. The NCH can promote the performance of music at locations other than the national venue. My officials have discussed this with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Sections 7(b), 7(c) and 7(d) of the Bill include the possibility. We are not cutting off the opportunity for the NCH to perform outside the Earlsfort Terrace venue, and it operates many outreach programmes. I agree with the Deputy that we must move the national institutions, and the concert hall must have a regional impact. Section 7 includes as objectives of the NCH:

(b) in the public interest, to promote and support the performance, knowledge, appreciation, creation and enjoyment of music as an integral part of Irish life,

(c) to entertain, educate and engage the public through musical experiences, and

(d) to encourage and promote inclusivity, participation, creativity, experimentation and involvement in music through engagement with diverse individuals and communities as performers, participants, composers or audience members

The section allows the NCH to take the broader approach the Deputy mentioned.

While I am sympathetic to the Deputy's concerns about a reference to the location of the NCH in the building on Earlsfort Terrace, it has been the subject of ongoing discussion between my Department, the NCH, the OPW and the Office of the Attorney General, and a proposed amendment has been agreed. This clarifies the position regarding the location of the NCH, which shall be situated, for the time being, at Earlsfort Terrace in the city of Dublin.

11 o’clock

As Deputies are aware, the National Concert Hall has been based at Earlsfort Terrace since it opened in 1981. To most people, the National Concert Hall and Earlsfort Terrace have been synonymous, particularly since the vacation of the site by UCD in 2007. The main issue for the hall in the short and medium terms is not its location. Of course it is in an excellent location. The main issue for the hall is how it can secure the necessary funding to secure its long-term future at its existing location and thereby maximise its potential as a centre of excellence for music and the performing arts. The security of tenure of the National Concert Hall at Earlsfort Terrace is seen as an important element in any case being made to all potential governmental, corporate and philanthropic funders in the years ahead. Rather than accepting the Deputy's amendment, I am proposing amendment No. 2a, which would insert the phrase "situated, for the time being, at Earlsfort Terrace in the city of Dublin" in section 5(1) of the Bill.

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