Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will appreciate, I have been rather busy since I went into the Department. The total cost of this scheme is €105 million. It was committed by the previous Government of which the Deputy was a member. Undoubtedly, this scheme has certainly had major benefits for the individual artists concerned. Now, we have an opportunity to do not only qualitative but also quantitative research regarding the output from the scheme. From the Deputy's time as the Minister for children, he will know that any decisions taken this far out from a budget cannot be undertaken without the context and input of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. Once I have the research concluded, however, and have a qualitative and quantitative piece of work I can bring to the Government on the value accrued to the State from that €105 million allocated from the previous Government, I think that will probably colour the decision going forward. I am looking forward to seeing that research concluded soon.

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