Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Having listened to the poor Minister of State who was asked to deliver that script, I know why the senior Minister did not come in. It is a disgrace. We are proud of our culture in this country. It is an insult to the musicians who work in the two orchestras that the Minister responsible for culture was unable to grace this Chamber for the debate. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Paul Kehoe, when I say that. At least he had the courage to be here. He was certainly handed a patsy to read.

Will the Government apologise to musicians? Will it apologise to the large numbers of young people who are studying music to degree level with a view to becoming professional musicians? Where is their employment going to be if we are working systematically to downgrade the number of people who work with the RTÉ orchestras, possibly with a view to axing one of them entirely? Music lovers and the members of the Musicians Union of Ireland and SIPTU want to see the orchestras restored to their full status. We want to see a thriving culture of music learning and appreciation in schools and at degree level in universities. We probably have the smallest orchestra provision of any small European country. Our orchestras are based in RTÉ because the custom when they were founded in 1948 was to have radio orchestras that broadcast to people around the country in order that they could enjoy classical music.

The Minister of State was part of the discussions when Topical Issue debates were introduced. One of the reforms promised by the Government at the time was that the relevant Minister would appear. If he or she could not appear, which can happen, an apology would be provided as part of the discussion with the Deputy who placed the Topical Issue. We were told that it would be possible, with the agreement of the Chair, for the Deputy in question to refuse to proceed with the Topical Issue on the day and ask to raise it with the Minister in the Chamber on another day. Will the Minister of State ask the senior Minister to reschedule this debate in order that we can be given some answers as part of a response in favour of the retention of the orchestras?

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