Results 21-40 of 2,805 for speaker:Malcolm Byrne

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Ar an gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas lenár bhfinnéithe. I noted, and Mr. Ó Coigligh outlined very clearly, that there has been a very clear commitment on the part of Government, particularly over the last five years, to expansion of and investment in the arts. That is something we should not lose sight of. He mentioned that we have seen an expansion in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Yes, I said ballpark. I am very conscious that Mr. Ó Coigligh only became Secretary General relatively recently. How long have Mr. Kelly, Mr. Falvey and Ms O'Hara been in the arts and culture section of the Department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Since February.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: I appreciate that. It is probably fair to say that Mr. Falvey would have been across this over the whole period.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: We talked about the business case the last time. It is fair to say that there has been a lot of criticism of the Arts Council and its IT systems and how it handles the administration side. When was the Department first made aware that the Arts Council said it was going to engage people to try to get this new system put in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: The Department would have known before then that the case was made, so this had been wrapped-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: The Arts Council would have come to the Department and said its system was in trouble and it knew from artists and whoever else.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: That was accepted. A system was put in put in place and was operating. I went back through some of the records related to the IT system and I came across an incident in June 2023, which Mr. Falvey might remember, when the Arts Council sent out an email notice in error to 141 artists to say they had been awarded grants.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: If Mr. Falvey remembers, they got grants and it was written off as an error and so on. Maureen Kennelly was the director of the Arts Council, and she was on radio and was very apologetic, and so on. The Minister came into the Dáil on 13 July to explain that. One of her suggestions to address this was that the Arts Council was updating its computerised grants system at the time and that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: I am conscious that the Minister went into the Dáil in July 2023 and she indicated that to address many of the problems, this IT system would be in place and would be going live in 2024. Was that interrogated by anybody in the Department? Was it just that somebody in the Department said that the Minister has to answer a question and the Department needs to know what the Arts Council is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Mr. Falvey will remember this. I certainly remember that in June 2023, this was a big problem. For those who do not remember it, artists were being told they were being given a grant when, in reality, they were not getting it. The Arts Council came out with its hands up and said it had messed up, it was an administrative error, it had to do with email trails and so on. The Minister went...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Mr. Falvey was the assistant secretary in the section. I am saying this respectfully. This was the biggest mess that happened in the arts. People might remember that at the time, in June 2023, the Minister went into the Dáil. I do not know if Mr. Falvey was with her but officials from his section would have been there in June 2023. She went into the Chamber and said that part of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: I accept that, but Mr. Ó Coigligh will get my point. I think this is important. I totally accept that the Arts Council was saying that everything was grand. However, given that we had just seen a major mess-up in the Arts Council, which impacted directly on artists, did somebody from the arts section of the Department not decide that it wanted to go in and interrogate to make sure...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: I am going to ask Mr. Falvey because, in fairness, he was the assistant secretary at the time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Was it interrogated by the Department? I could say that everything will be grand but-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: I get that, but part of the solution the Minister put forward was that there was an updating of the computerised grants system and this would be going live in 2024. We can check the Dáil record. Clearly, the Department had been told by the Arts Council that this was the solution. What the witnesses are telling me, unless they can prove otherwise, is-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: Ag insint bréaga.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: The Department maintains a risk register. Does that just apply to actions of the Department or does it also cover agencies within the aegis of the Department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Arts Council Grant Management IT System: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: I appreciate that.