Results 10,261-10,280 of 10,622 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Arts Council (27 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The estimated overall loss in value of €5.3m in respect of the Arts Council Business Transformation Programme was first notified to my Department at the end of June 2024 and this was then brought to the attention of the Secretary General and the then Minister. More generally, Chapter 7 of the Report on the Examination of The Arts Council Business Transformation Programme looks at...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Correspondence (27 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: In July 2024, the Secretary General of the Department initiated an examination of the Arts Councils ICT project. The examination was undertaken by the Department and completed on 6 February 2025. The Minister published the Report on the Examination of the Arts Council Business Transformation Project on 12 February. It makes a number of key findings and 36 recommendations which will be...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Data (27 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The details of the divisions and units that operate within my Department are set out in the Corporate Governance Framework, available at the following link: www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=. The Corporate Governance Framework for my Department will be updated and published upon the conclusion of the formal Transfer of Functions process, to reflect the Department's revised functions and associated...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Bodies (27 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: As with many other Government Department, there is a diverse range of state bodies under the aegis of my Department, each playing a critical role in delivering and supporting public service whilst ensuring effective implementation of the Department’s statutory and policy obligations. These State bodies are complex in terms of the underpinning regulatory sphere in which they operate...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Funding (27 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department's role in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy and implementation of that policy is a matter for the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. The matter raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred this question to that agency for direct response to the Deputy....

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Sports Funding (27 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: My Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, the Community Sport Facilities Fund (CSFF) and the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). Cumulative investment from the LSSIF since 2020 now stands at €297 million, while over a quarter of a billion euro was allocated to community sports clubs and facilities from the CSFF in 2024. This funding represents the...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Policies (26 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department's role in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy and implementation of that policy is a matter for the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. The matter raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred this question to that agency for direct response to the Deputy....

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Arts Centres (26 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: My Department publishes all payments on its website in tabular form for each county on an annual basis once they have been prepared for publication. Accordingly, a full list of all capital payments for 2022 and 2023 can be found at . The list of capital payments for 2024 is currently being finalised and tabulated for publication and it is planned to publish it on the Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Surveys (26 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department's role in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy and implementation of that policy is a matter for the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. The matter raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred this question to that agency for direct response to the Deputy....

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Telecommunications Infrastructure (26 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: In relation to concerns around mobile phone coverage, the roll-out of infrastructure for mobile telecommunications services in Ireland is primarily a matter for private mobile network operators, operating on a commercial basis in a liberalised market, regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg). ComReg is statutorily independent in the exercise of its functions in...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Reviews (26 Feb 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The review of my Department’s internal governance operations will focus on governance, risk and escalation processes. My Department has had preliminary discussions with the Institute of Public Administration in this regard. The timeframe for this review has yet to be finalised and I intend to publish the review when it is concluded.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Television Licence Fee (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: First, I congratulate Deputy Byrne and wish her well in her role as an Opposition spokesperson. I will make it clear from the outset that there is no intention to replace the television license fee. The previous Government made a decision last July that the licence fee should be reformed and enhanced, not abolished. It is in that context that the programme for Government sets out our...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Television Licence Fee (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The opening line of my reply made clear where the Government is on the previous Government decision but, to put it in context for the Deputy, in 2020 the total licence fee revenue was of the order of €222 million. The latest figure for 2024 is approximately €195 million. I am not sure where the Deputy thinks that money will come from in the absence of the licence fee. Does...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Television Licence Fee (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: I accept that the television licence is very important but €195 million is a fairly big hole. If Sinn Féin is now proposing I abolish it, I wonder where I will get €195 million. Should I get it from health, social welfare, housing or roads? That is a lot of money. If we are advocating for the abolition of a fee, the abolition of a charge, the reduction of a tax and that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Bodies (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Teachta Farrelly. Go n-éirí go geal leis. I hope he has an enjoyable period of time here and I wish him the best of luck in his endeavours, along with the other Deputies across the House and the new Deputies I see around me. As Minister, I have recently brought, in quick succession, two annual reports of bodies under the aegis of my...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Bodies (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not disagree with the Deputy. The committee I have established to examine the governance of the Arts Council is being led by Professor Niamh Brennan. It includes Margaret Cullen and John McCarthy. They have all in their own right plenty of experience of examining corporate governance in other areas as well. I do not disagree with the Deputy with regard to the Department's role but I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Bodies (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: To take the last point first, it is not my intention that anybody who is legitimately doing very good work on behalf of the arts community across the country should suffer. That is not my concern here at all. My concern is the same as the Deputy's concern, that is, that if there is voted expenditure from the Oireachtas to Government Departments, it must be for the purpose that it is for. I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Arts Policy (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for artists pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. The basic income for the arts pilot research scheme will conclude in August this year and the data from the pilot will be fed into the Government's consideration of the next steps. Recipients have been receiving payments and responding to surveys under the scheme...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Arts Policy (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy will appreciate, I have been rather busy since I went into the Department. The total cost of this scheme is €105 million. It was committed by the previous Government of which the Deputy was a member. Undoubtedly, this scheme has certainly had major benefits for the individual artists concerned. Now, we have an opportunity to do not only qualitative but also...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Arts Policy (6 Mar 2025)

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not disagree with the Deputy, except on his last point. There is no point in having research carried out and then making the decision ahead of it. I have to bring this matter to the Government and, as a former Minister for children, the Deputy will know what this involves. I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of the research, which is looking at the scheme under a variety of...