Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Has the Minister had discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance to maintain the funding, both capital and current, allocated for the 1916 Rising commemorations? The Minister has cited examples of good events which we all have attended, but we need a serious national endowment for the arts. They suffered disproportionately, partly because a lot of the funding was diverted by the Minister's predecessor to deal with the issues around turf-cutting. That is fine, but the funding diverted and the national endowment for the arts needs to be restored.

Recently, the Taoiseach attended a major event at the Kennedy Center in Washington where he praised the arts, given that it is our calling card when we go to the United States. However, as Lenny Abrahamson said, the arts are not just a photo opportunity for politicians, they are much more important for us as a people and in how we present ourselves to the world.

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