Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct, as I was in Belfast in January at the Equity Ireland and UK conference. I highlighted there the role of the Creative Ireland programme, with which the Deputy will be familiar and which launched at the end of 2016, and the culture component of Global Ireland - Ireland's Global Footprint to 2025, which was published in May 2018, to ensure that artists and other creative workers are properly supported to allow them to continue to operate in the cultural sector on a self-sustaining basis.

The key reassurance required for the cultural sector remains the continued operation of the common travel area, as highlighted on Friday, 1 March, by the directors of the arts councils in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. Our key message remains that regardless of the outcome of the Brexit process we remain committed throughout the island of Ireland to engaging through culture with our friends in the UK, with our partners in the EU and globally. While Brexit will impact all aspects of the Department's brief, it has not identified specific legislative measures for inclusion in the omnibus Bill on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Notwithstanding this, the Department and those bodies under its aegis are subject to the challenges posed by Brexit and in the event of a no-deal scenario they will benefit from the practical measures contained in the Bill.

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