Results 2,761-2,780 of 2,836 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: 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.

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

Malcolm Byrne: If the Department is entering a contract above a particular sum of money, is there a requirement for it to be cleared by the management team?

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

Malcolm Byrne: What is that value?

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

Malcolm Byrne: Any contract above €25,000 must go to the management team. When I asked Mr. Falvey earlier, he said that we all knew in 2018 that the IT system was a problem. The Arts Council was pitching for a replacement in 2018. What was the Department's knowledge of what the cost of the system would be? We knew the system was not adequate. In 2018, was a cost provided to 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: Was that in 2018?

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

Malcolm Byrne: In 2018, it was €2.87 million. We moved from €2.87 million to €6 million. When did the Department become aware that the cost was starting to go up from €2.87 million?

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

Malcolm Byrne: To follow the point, I assume the mess that happened in the middle of 2023 was discussed at the management committee because of how serious an issue it was. The then Minister had to go into the Dáil to answer questions and there was widespread coverage in the media. As we have found out, the Arts Council was continuing the same old system but it was clear there were many flaws. In...

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

Malcolm Byrne: In 2018, the cost was €2.87 million. What was the total in 2023 between capital and current spending?

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

Malcolm Byrne: This was in mid-2023. We knew the system was a mess and a problem at that stage.

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. We know from 2018 that the old system had to be replaced even though, as we have discovered, the Arts Council is still using the old system. Everyone will recall that we knew where the system was in 2023. What happened at the management committee in 2023? We were looking at a cost of €7 million. We knew the system was a mess. The then Minister had to answer...