Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)

I thank all the speakers. Their contributions, although short, were very much to the point. They asked pertinent questions and I will try to answer them in so far as I can.

I have been a great admirer of Senator Ó Murchú for some time. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann has been one of the great cultural movements. It and the GAA have been all-embracing movements and their contributions to Irish culture are immeasurable. One must appreciate the level of volunteering in Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the time people devote to it for absolutely nothing. The organisation is possibly the most influential Irish organisation in America and it has branches in Sardinia and Russia. There is great growth associated with Irish music and dance in Russia.

I totally agree with what was said about partnership. Senator O'Donnell asked what I would like to be remembered for as a Minister. I would like to be remembered as having been a friend of the arts and a facilitator, that is, somebody who listened and tried to implement many of the good ideas emanating from the arts community nationally. I will certainly do so. None of us has a monopoly of wisdom in the arts; we all have our own areas of expertise but are not experts in all the artistic forms.

I agree that if officials, the Minister, Members of the Oireachtas and arts community work together, something very special can be done. I see plenty of opportunities for collaboration and even for using existing resources to the full. We have a really good human resource, including young college graduates who are very well qualified.

We now have spaces we did not have 15 years ago. Over the past ten years, previous Governments invested €1 billion in creating spaces, and this must be recognised. The Irish taxpayer has made an enormous contribution to the arts over the past 15 years. Now, we must concentrate on human resources, programming, content and creativity. We have done the building, and for the time being we do not have the money for further building. We must concentrate on ensuring the human resources we have nurtured over the past ten years remain in the country and that we support them as much as possible.

To refer to last Sunday's game, which was a great spectacle for Gaelic football-----