Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)

As I said, I am committed to trying to do something in this space. The national cultural institutions are very Dublin-centric. Between the library, the concert hall and the gallery, pretty much all of them are based in Dublin, with the exception of the Crawford Gallery. I am very conscious of the fact that a person should have access to facilities that promote and encourage our cultural and artistic development regardless of where he or she lives, whether that is in counties Laois, Galway, Sligo or wherever.

I welcome the Deputy's acknowledgement of my decision last week regarding the basic income for the arts. As I said in response to Deputies Tóibín, Ó Cearúil and others earlier, that will be dependent on budget 2026. Commitments are laid out in the programme for Government, and we will be anxious to make significant progress in this area over the lifetime of the Government in the next five budgets.

See this speech in context