Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate what the Minister is saying, but the NCFA document argues that it could take until 2024 to recover from the past 20 months in what is already a particularly precarious sector. I am seeking a commitment from the Minister not just to deal with what has happened in the past year and a half but to deal with the long-term situation. It is a source of frustration to the arts community that whenever Ireland is marketed abroad as a tourist destination, the icons put forward from our history are always from the arts community - the poets, musicians and dancers - but funding for the arts has been especially weak.

Yes, the Minister has been engaging with the National Campaign for the Arts and that is to her credit, and she is meeting its representatives tomorrow, but it is not just about recovering from the past 20 months. It is about the underlying under-funding issues that have always been prevalent, and a vision to restore that into the future.

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