Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I would regard this Bill as a road map for artistic Ireland and in so far as the traditional arts are concerned, it is a cross-roads. My hope is that it will be possible for the Minister, in the very near future, to erect the signposts on that cross-roads with very clear directions, and at the same time that the distances indicated on those road signs will not be too great and that it will be possible for us to see results very quickly.

I have always felt that, when it comes to the arts in this country, there are two Irelands. The first of these is "Official Arts Ireland Limited" and, in my opinion, it is very limited. As I see it, the Arts Council only represents about 2% or 3% of all the arts activity in the country. The second Ireland to which I refer is "Community Arts Ireland". The community is where the arts and the artists are inspired, nourished, cultivated and celebrated. That is where the main arts activity takes place and long may it continue. That is the way I believe it should be.

Words such as "professionalism" and "professional" are bandied about without any definition. My understanding of professional, in terms of the language of the arts, means something related to excellence. However, it has come to mean commercial or commercialism. They are two different things. The Minister has focused on this difference in terms of his recommendations regarding the new committees.

The debate on this matter has lasted for 30 years. I was particularly pleased that the Minister made two pronouncements on the traditional arts. He stated that, after half a century, there was no coherent policy on the traditional arts within the Arts Council. He also stated that sufficient finance was not directed towards the traditional arts. Less than 1% of the €48 million went to the traditional arts and the Arts Council stated that it believed that this was adequate.