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

Equally, I hope that those events are very well attended. I cannot answer his specific questions but what I can do is tell the Deputy what I am doing in my own Department to support and engage with the LGBTI+ community across the areas under my remit. Under the Creative Ireland programme, the creative communities initiative with local authorities provides funding to support community-led creative projects including for the LGBTI+ community such as Rainbow Library in Cork and the LGBTI+ Inclusion Festival in Galway. The Deputy may also be aware that the Government decided in February of this year to extend the Creative Ireland programme to 2027. As part of this, I specifically proposed that Creative Ireland should deepen its work collaborating through creativity across key interest groups and supporting, among others, LGBTI+ equality promotion.

In the broadcasting sector the BAI plays both a regulatory and a development role through support schemes such as Sound and Vision. My officials have been engaging with the BAI regarding the actions it is taking to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in the broadcasting sector in Ireland. The BAI is currently reviewing its 2018 gender action plan.

Finally, I share the Deputy's hope that both events are very well attended. As I outlined in my initial response to the Deputy's question, it would be inappropriate for me to intervene at this point and the Oireachtas committee made the same decision.

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