Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There are a number of questions there. It will be difficult for me to answer them in the minute available but I am happy to provide the Deputy with all the information she wants and to be as transparent as possible.

I absolutely agree about the basic income guarantee for artists. A legacy and lesson to learn from Covid and from what we missed and enjoyed in Galway 2020 will be to support the arts.

On the An Post building, the redevelopment of the site is a matter for Galway County Council and An Post. The site is in the city centre and includes the city’s central post office and a number of buildings behind it that housed a former telephone exchange and now defunct sorting and storing offices. One of the vacant buildings in the complex on a laneway off the street was repurposed by the Galway International Arts Festival in 2019 and used as a temporary art gallery. A number of arts organisations participating in Galway 2020 used it for rehearsals. Under the An Post plan announced at the end of March 2021, a property developer will refurbish the existing post office, create a civic space and be free to use the rest for retail and commercial units. It is intended that, while An Post will still own the land, the redevelopment will be on a very long lease.

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