Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One thing I feel very strongly about, and which I have seen in the arts, is duplication. I would not want to see any duplication through what the Minister proposes to do in Creative Ireland of anything already in existence. For example, there are cultural teams and a cultural director of each local authority. I question whether there is a difference between them and what the arts officer already in place is doing. It is important to have a coherent approach to library services, museums and visual arts officers. However, is there a duplication between cultural teams and cultural officers of what arts officers were already doing in their county development plans and in their own jobs? I would have assumed it would have been part of their remit to feed in with the heritage officer, the librarians and so on as well.

The Minister mentioned her proposal and plan for the development of each national cultural institution and its plan for 2022. Again, I would be very surprised if all the national cultural institution were not already doing that and I would be surprised to think that was something new that they had to think about, not something that was already part of their role and remit and already implemented.

Finally, I ask the Minister in all her endeavours to ensure that arts education is made a priority.

Is any progress being made on the local arts and education partnerships, particularly as they are hugely important? We must not have duplication of schemes that already exist and are up and running.

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