Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the update and the details in respect of this matter. Of the €1 million, there is €202,167.85 remaining. I appreciate that the Department is keeping a close eye on this because there is a history to this. Perhaps the mistake I made as a politician was thinking that the designation of Galway as the capital of culture had something to do with art. I realise my mistake now because it was a lot more to do with business. This is actually captured in the three bullet points that the Minister has given for the legacy. This is not down to her but I thank her for providing them. The first point refers to the facilitation of international and EU relationships. I am not sure where my idea of art comes into that. The second refers to the support of place-based cultural programming. This is jargon.

The third is the provision of support to the cultural and creative sector. That gives the second amount and not the highest amount to the cultural and creative sector. I would have thought the creative sector would have got top billing. I will come back in at my second opportunity.

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