Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuireann Sinn Féin fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Tá sé ag teacht le fada. Tá súil agam go n-éireoidh agus go mbeidh an t-ádh leis an National Concert Hall, an t-oirceastra, Cór na nÓg agus Cór Linn, chomh maith leis an gcór nua, the National Symphony Chorus agus iad bogtha. Tá sé seo tar éis tarlú cheana féin. Tá an bogadh tar éis tarlú agus tá an reachtaíocht ag teacht i ndiaidh an athraithe. Tá sé tábhachtach go dtuigeann daoine é sin.

Tá sé go maith go bhfuil sé seo tarlaithe agus go bhfuil todhchaí amach roimh an ngné seo de cheol agus amhránaíocht na hÉireann, chun go mbeadh sé flúirseach ní hamháin san institiúid thíos an bóthar uainn anseo ach mórthimpeall na tíre, mar atá luaite ag an Aire. Tá sé tábhachtach nach bhfuil aon snobaireacht ag baint le ceol d’aon sórt ar an oileán seo agus go bhfuil sé ar fáil do chuile dhuine go bhfuil spéis acu sa cheol. Tá deartháireacha agam gafa leis an gceol ach níl ceol ar bith nó aon expertise agamsa maidir le ceol ach amháin, cosúil le gach duine eile, go mbainim sult as nuair atá sé timpeall orm.

Bhí sé go maith le linn tréimhse na dianghlasála, agus sa tréimhse mórthimpeall ar Covid san iomlán, go raibh ceol á chothú i ngach uile áit agus in áiteanna nár shíl muid go raibh sé. Bhí daoine a bhí glasáilte ina dtithe féin ag seinm cheoil dúinn agus á chraobhscaoileadh agus leithéidí na hinstitiúidí náisiúnta ag cuidiú leo, chomh maith leis an Aire agus an Chomhairle Ealaíon, chun déanamh cinnte de go raibh gliondar éigin le baint as an tréimhse sin.

I welcome the Bill. I have no expertise in music other than having brothers involved in it. That is where my expertise in terms of music extends. This legislation has been promised for a while. In fact, the effect of it has already taken place in that the NSO has already moved. It has been under the control of the NCH for a while and RTÉ has been relieved of the burden, as some in RTÉ felt it was, of the NSO. It is good that the move also included the National Symphony Chorus, as it is now called, Cór na nÓg and the newly founded Cór Linn. I congratulate all those performers and the management. Hopefully they now look forward to quite a fruitful number of years ahead of them and even longer. I also hope they will get the required investment, as the Minister mentioned. The Minister referred to the investment needed to bring equipment and musical instruments up to the level that is required to compete on an international stage. Investment is also required to put across the music we have in our communities throughout Ireland.

One of the key points is that we need to ensure the musical talents in Ireland are harnessed. Over the years people have tried to forge greater links to ensure there is a pathway for young musicians to full-time employment or into the likes of the NSO. We need to ensure there is a throughput and a pathway. Some of that is through making sure schools have the musical instruments, the teachers and the wherewithal to train those students, whether in classical music, traditional music or other music forms. That needs to happen on a greater scale. Music cannot be pushed to one side within the school curriculum. It is important for us as a small nation that our individuality and our music is enhanced.

In my area, there are a number of schools with music programmes. They are in Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, areas and have outreach to Departments and so on. As the Minister says, we need the best equipment but that is not always possible for a poor school in the likes of Cherry Orchard. Other Ministers have visited St. Ultan's School and Rosary College in Crumlin, where pupils are learning instruments that would not normally be associated with working-class areas. I have had the pleasure of listening to them on a number of occasions and they are on par with anything I have heard anywhere else. That should be harnessed. The only way of harnessing it is to make sure they have the equipment and the time from a very young age, or sometimes older, to enjoy music. If they enjoy co-operating together, that is the benefit of an orchestra but if they do not want to co-operate and instead have an individual pursuit as a musician, that can be encouraged as well. For the new institutions and the institutions that have been transferred to the National Concert Hall to survive, we need to have that throughput, whether through the primary schools or secondary schools, and make links with universities as well.

There was a comprehensive report on the transfer. That is where we are coming from in this legislation. I do not think the Minister will find any opposition. We are all looking to encourage the transfer and greater investment, and to encourage the NCH to ensure that all institutions within it such as the chorus or the NSO put on a programme that runs throughout the regions as much as possible or on our airways - be that through specific broadcasts or a different format permitted by new technology. Hologram concerts are now taking place and perhaps these can be considered to ensure where the full orchestra has to remain in Dublin, a performance can be broadcast to different venues at the same time. This might be something that could be looked at. I have been to a number of concerts in the past couple of years that stand out. Only recently, I attended an event in the NCH marking the Civil War. It showed the range of different talent we have in Ireland such as the singers and the orchestra. This should be encouraged. There is nothing like sitting at a performance of an orchestra where the conductor is building up the music to a crescendo and the sound reverberates throughout the building. That is something to behold. I do not ever expect us to go back to the days when an orchestra sat in the cinema playing music while black-and-white silent films played but it shows that from day one, the different types of media work well together. We have all the new technologies that do not require that and orchestras are expensive to run so I would not expect every theatre to have it. However, I expect that every musical venue could make a bid to be included in a programme whether that was for the full orchestra to attend or a reduced section. It is truly a national cultural institution and these are truly national orchestras and choirs.

The investment is welcome and needs to continue. We also need to look beyond what is covered by this legislation. Other musical forms are not captured by the NCH. We need to make sure they have the same type of funding and protection this legislation gives the NCH. While Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann does tremendous work in respect of traditional Irish music, to my knowledge, we do not have a national traditional music ensemble that is fully paid for by the State. We do not have a national rave. It is something we may need to look at to see whether that can be captured in the future through the NCH or whether we need different ways of ensuring that there those who are best at music can be encouraged. While we have had the debate, the basic income for artists and the cnuas, that is not always available to the best in our society when it comes to music and, therefore, they must often leave our shores to work abroad. If you have the best, be that a céilí band, sean-nós or whatever form of music it is, you should try to capture those people, hold them here and work for the national good - paid obviously. The idea is to pay them a wage that can sustain them and their music can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. We have gone away from the old days where everything was put on a record or CD and people bought that to enjoy their music. We are now down to Spotify and people do not always pay artists. They are, therefore, not as well paid as they were in the past if they had a successful album. It can be more difficult for artists because they must get themselves known, which means they must issue their music for free or have the luck of the draw.

I encourage the Minister not to stop at this legislation but to continue and ensure there is proper investment. The main issue, which was teased out during pre-legislative scrutiny, is to make sure there is no liability on RTÉ in the future following this move and to ensure that all the terms and conditions enjoyed are transferred to the NCH and enhanced. Those affected by this with whom I have spoken are happy that this is taking place. The Minister has given reassurances and RTÉ can concentrate on producing good programming. We also need to ensure that not only does it continue to produce good programming, but it also gives an airing to good music coming from the NCH so that we are not all dependent on having to attend the hall in person. One of the best concerts I attended was one where the NCH had reached out to my local community and put on different people who would not have ever been on a stage but were encouraged to sing their stories and their families encouraged to attend. I would say 99% of those in attendance had never been in the NCH before. That is something we should not say about any of our national institutions be it the NCH, the National Gallery or the National Museum. The public need to know that they are welcome. We also need to look at a mechanism to encourage them. In other jurisdictions, when tickets are left over or are not selling, they are made available free of charge to ensure seats are full but also to target working-class audiences or audiences who are more remote and cannot get to venues. I welcome this decision and wish the transfer well. Hopefully, year-on-year, we will see it enhance music in Ireland and more young people going through into national cultural institutions.

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