Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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130. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans for the National Concert Hall; her further plans to place it on a statutory footing; if the resignation of five members from its board in 2014 raised any issue of concern for her; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5596/15]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The question simply seeks to ask the Minister her plans for the development of the National Concert Hall and the timescale for moving towards placing it on a statutory footing. It also seeks to explore with the Minister what has been learned from the resignation last year of a number of members of the board. Will their resignations have an impact on her as she constitutes the new board?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In February 2014, the Government approved my predecessor's proposal to place the National Concert Hall on a statutory footing. As a consequence, the Department has prepared the general scheme of a Bill, which has been the subject of pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

It is intended that the Bill will provide,inter alia, for a governance framework that ensures appropriate reporting and accounting to the Minister and the Oireachtas by the National Concert Hall. It is my intention to publish the National Concert Hall Bill in the coming weeks.

As the Deputy referred to in his question, a number of changes took place on the board of the National Concert Hall in 2014. At this point, I am satisfied that the board is focused on helping the National Concert Hall make the transition from a company to a statutory body, while maintaining the highest standards of musical performance for the enjoyment of the public.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister's announcement that she will be bringing forward the legislation in the coming weeks. That is a positive development. Last year, in the aftermath of the resignation of five members of the National Concert Hall board, I raised a question with the Minister's predecessor in regard to those resignations and he responded:

There were disagreements among members who focused primarily on a fund-raising initiative in America at that particular time which, I understand, could have cost the National Concert Hall €1.5 million. What was thought to be a philanthropic arrangement resulted in a commercial arrangement. That just could not be allowed to happen, and it was not allowed to happen either by myself or by the board. Members were not happy with that arrangement and as a result they stepped down because of it.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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To refer specifically to the case the Deputy has asked about, this matter was primarily dealt with by my predecessor. The position is that, following advice from the Attorney General, the National Concert Hall was found not to have the power to embark on a proposed foundation project. The matter resulted in a dispute among board members with some of them resigning because they were opposed to the proposed project and, following the resignations, my predecessor requested the former Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills to undertake a governance review at the National Concert Hall. The review is now complete and this has been placed on the website.

The National Concert Hall Bill is at an advanced stage and I expect to publish it in the coming weeks. It will put the National Concert Hall on a statutory footing. It will provide for clear accountability to the Minister and the Oireachtas and it will address and update the governance structures.

My focus is on the future. I accept that there were problems in the past. I am satisfied that we are ready to move on. The National Concert Hall is doing very well. Its visitor numbers have been very good for the past year - they have increased. There is a big development in terms of the Kevin Barry Room and the front of the National Concert Hall will be developed as well. I am pleased to say that it will have a significant role in the hosting of the events for the 1916 commemorations. My focus is on the future of the National Concert Hall and the huge contribution it continues to make to Irish society.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome what the Minister has said, but there is a significant difference in what she said and what her predecessor said. Will she accept on the record of the House that her predecessor, if he did not mislead the Dáil or give us significantly inaccurate information, certainly did not give us information that was accurate? What could have been understood from what he said on the previous occasion was that the people who resigned did so because they had been advocating this arrangement with the US when the reality was, as the current Minister has correctly said, they were the people who opposed this arrangement. They were the people who caused the then Minister to get advice on the matter from the Attorney General but some of the people who advocated that approach, which the then Minister, Deputy Deenihan, indicated could have cost the National Concert Hall €1.5 million, and which was advised against subsequently by the Attorney General, are still members of the National Concert Hall board. People with a concern about this issue would be concerned lest those people would in the future become members of the statutory board given their history on this matter.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I presume the debate to which the Deputy is referring is that of 7 May when the National Concert Hall was the matter of a Topical Issue debate. In that debate the then Minister stated:

At this stage, the reason for the disagreement has been outlined in various Sunday and weekday newspapers, so it is fairly well known. There were disagreements among members which focused primarily on a fund-raising initiative in America at that particular time which, I understand, could have cost the National Concert Hall €1.5 million. What was thought to be a philanthropic arrangement resulted in a commercial arrangement. That just could not be allowed to happen, and it was not allowed to happen either by myself or by the board. Members were not happy with that arrangement and as a result they stepped down because of it. That will not happen now.

As I said, I want to focus on the future of the National Concert Hall. I do not want to get into who said what. The idea is that the National Concert Hall will be on a statutory footing. I do not think anybody disagrees with the idea of making it a statutory body. The details will be addressed as we bring the Bill through the Oireachtas. Good consultation will take place and there has been engagement with the concert hall. It has been through pre-legislative scrutiny with the committee. The Bill is moving forward and it is my priority to bring it before the House as soon as possible.