Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ag teacht ó chathair na Gaillimhe, cathair dá-theangach na tíre, ní féidir liom ach mo thacaíocht a thabhairt don rún seo. Gabhaim comhghairdeas do Fhianna Fáil. Coming from Galway city, the bilingual capital of the State, I could not but support this motion. Coming from a Galway where we have Cúirt, the Galway Arts Festival, the film festival, the Galway Early Music Festival, Music for Galway, Caoimhe Na Gaillimhe and so on, I could not put support this rún. These events have put Galway city on the map and they have done that struggling on a shoestring budget despite the best efforts of councillors to give money every year.

Prior to the last election, the arts organisations approached all of the candidates and asked us to endorse the arts. They made very simple suggestions, the first of which was to restore arts funding to at least 0.3% of the GDP. The second suggestion was to ensure that all local authorities in the country filled the vacant positions of art officers and produced arts plans by the end of 2016. The third suggestion was to actively fund creative industries and arts through the local enterprise boards and LEADER. The fourth suggestion was to reclassify spending on the arts as non-discretionary. These are four basic recommendations that could implemented very easily.

In addition, the arts organisations highlighted - Galway is one example but it applies throughout the country - five key areas, including the lack of permanent accessible and affordable space for artists, the lack of space for them to show, the lack of space for them to learn and the necessity for space in which to start. Ina theannta sin, chuir siad béim ar an teanga. Tá luach €136 milliún i gceist le luach na Gaeilge do chathair agus Contae na Gaillimhe. Tá €59 milliún den mhéid sin ag baint leis an gcathair í fhéin.

Dúirt Deputy Boyd Barrett that we really should not look at this as an economic issue. I understand the point he made but it is extremely important for the Government because it is very taken by numbers and economy. The figures for the Irish film industry are simply extraordinary given this is a tiny country with a tiny film industry. The audio-visual sector alone is worth €550 million, it employs 6,000 individuals and more than 560 small and medium enterprises. If one goes back to bord snip nua, chaired by Colm McCarthy, the first thing that was going to be cut was the Irish Film Board which was to be amalgamated into Enterprise Ireland. I would suggest amalgamating Enterprise Ireland with the Irish Film Board and then we would go places sa tír seo.

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