Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I will address the last point first. There is absolutely nothing in the Bill that requires a delay. The Minister has the Brennan report from the Arts Council. It will appear and require a study and perhaps legislation. There is no reason this Bill and the other cannot progress when needs be. There is nothing stopping us from having two arts Bills in the same Dáil term. This is quite simple. A delay is a joke, but it is a bad joke.

How do we get to a point where the vital role of comedy, which was recognised in Brehon law, is not only left out of legislation but is actively excluded from funding by our Arts Council? There is a real implication to being left out of the Arts Act. By denying comedians recognition as artists, we deny them support. The Ministe's decision to try to delay this for another year and a half is a slap in the face. As I said, there is no reason for it.

The Arts Council is already obliged under section 9 of the Arts Act to promote knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts and assist in improving standards in the arts, but because it does not consider comedy as art, it therefore refuses to do so. Where it provides scholarships, bursaries, residencies and mentorships to other artists, it does not provide that for comedians. The Arts Council is not required to exclude comedy. The Department of culture, under the previous Minister, Catherine Martin, made it clear that stand-up, sketch and improv could be considered part of a recognised art form of theatre. The Arts Council chose to continue to discriminate. That is shameful and that is why I introduced the Bill. There is no need for it, but because the Arts Council, in its current format, will not recognise that, it needs to be dealt with through legislation.

Deputy Brennan made the point that other arts forms, such as country and western music, amateur drama, musical theatre and Irish dancing, fall under the Arts Act because it specifically names drama, music and so on. It is discrimination by the Arts Council in all of those forms. In this case, because it is not mentioned the council is able to claim that it will not fund it in any way.

The Arts Council is failing in its duty under section 9. The Minister should withdraw or not pursue his delaying tactic. At the very least, he should adopt, on Wednesday week, Deputy Ahern's amendment. It would allow the Minister to delay this for a month which, in effect, delays it until the end of January. Even then, it would go to committee and the committee would decide. The Government has a majority on the committee and, therefore, can delay it even further. The Bill will not even reach Committee Stage. At least that would allow us to continue the debate in committee and allow those who are affected a platform to explain how it has affected them. It would allow the Arts Council a platform to explain why it took the decision it did. It would also allow the Minister a platform to explain why, if he believes at that stage there is a need for a further delay, that is his approach.

The Arts Council continues to refuse to consider comedians as artists worthy of support. The wider legacy of snobbery that sees classical music but not country and western supported, funds opera but not musical theatre and excludes fashion design and storytelling as well as comedy needs to be addressed. That is a point we have heard. The Arts Council has to address that. If the arts committee needs to bring the council before it on matters other than IT supports and deal with the recognition of arts, that is something we should do. We should not have to discuss legislation to effect that.

Comedian Sinead Crilly put it very powerfully earlier when she spoke to TDs and Senators. She said it feels like there simply is not money for people doing arts more for the working class. The same snobbery was on show the first time comedy was ever discussed the Dáil. Seamus Aloysius Burke said in 1924 he was very much afraid that public libraries would exhibit such things as musical comedy. We are still in the same space as were over 100 years ago. It would be a crying shame if, 100 years on, Fine Gael - the party that Deputy represented - provided the same reason for comedy to be excluded.

I mentioned Richard Cook, who outlined the irony that the Arts Council funds venues and festivals that rely on comedy to fill seats in order to pay bills and develop audiences, yet it does not recognise comedy and closes its doors to comedians. He also challenged us to resist the hangover of old British colonial class-based ideas of art, where tragedy on stage was seen as noble but comedy rooted in the working class was seen as somewhat lesser. Other former colonies have gotten over this legacy. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are inclusive in their funding of the arts. Scotland has done the same. We have lagged behind. That is not policy. We need a policy of cultural decolonisation and that can be supported by accepting the Bill.

It is about deciding for ourselves what art means in our own voices and on our own terms. Our culture has always integrated laughter and intellect. It is built into the DNA of how we communicate, from Swift to Wilde, Beckett to Dave Allen, Deirdre O'Kane, Dylan Moran, Dara Ó Briain, David O'Doherty, Alison Spittle to Joanne McNally and Tommy Tiernan. Our best comic artists have always used humour to express insight, understanding and truth. We come from a storytelling culture, often an unwritten culture. That brings us back to our colonial past, where truth and laughter live side by side. The simple impulse that gave us the seanachaí, poet and playwright also gave us stand-up. It would be extraordinary if the country that does comedy best does not recognise it.

At this stage, I want to recognise the contributions of the other Deputies who spoke, including Deputies Mitchell, Cronin, Gibney, Ahern, Brennan and Heneghan, and the Minister of State. It was an interesting debate and it was useful to have it. I was not sure whether I ever wanted to hear some of the commentary about people's personal hygiene habits, but at the end of the day it was a bit of a joke and a laugh. We all laughed at it and we are all together. We did not fall out and we will not fall out on this matter. I can see the headlines tomorrow about all the comedians in the Dáil and how many of them are connected. One of the jobs of a comedian is to force us to look through laughter at our lives and positions and make sure that we can laugh at ourselves as well as at the world. Even in the toughest times the jokes, craic and comedy are what breaks the ice.

I hope the Minister, in the less than two weeks we have before we come back here to vote, will reconsider his decision to have an 18-month delay and adopt Deputy Ahern's amendment. If he wants to proceed with the delay, I would be happy to accept the amendment to ensure a short delay. It would be the same as passing the Bill today. The arts committee is booked up until Christmas and early into the new year. Let us adopt the Bill and continue the debate. Let us make sure that comedians in Ireland get their due recognition.

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