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

He has started very well.

Senator Marie Louise O'Donnell and I have known each other for a very long time and we have very good mutual friends in the United States and elsewhere. She asked for what I would like to be remembered. I would like to be remembered as a friend of the arts and that is all. If, after four years, I can come out as someone who has tried his best, listened to people and delivered something I will be quite happy.

With regard to funding for young people, in 2003 when arts legislation was going through the Dáil I delayed it for months. I argued for an arms-length approach, in other words that the Minister could not direct the Arts Council on arts policy or on how it spends its money. The 5% is very much in the hands of the Arts Council and it is that body which will decide how much money it spends on various aspects of the arts. I am sending out a strong message on how I see the arts developing and the importance of education. I hope the Arts Council executive will respond to what Senators have stated and to my overarching policy.

Senator John Whelan is a practitioner. As regards making a living, I spoke to an artist last week who is quite well known. She said that in order to make a living and support her family she would have to undertake approximately 120 commissions a year. That is a lot of sales. Painters, actors and those involved in the film industry are finding it very difficult at the moment. There is less activity now in the documentary sector than for the past ten years. These are difficult times. We should all be very much aware of that because we have a great skills base in various aspects of the arts, visual and performing, and we must support that.

I am very much aware of the challenges that exist currently. I support the provision of resources from whatever angle for artists in the next four years. There are other ways of making money. I will refer to what has been said in a moment. There are difficulties as regards VAT and tax, but my official has informed me that if Members wish to engage with him, the Department has worked with people in the past on aspects of revenue with which they may be able to assist. I agree that it takes an artist time to create a work. It must have taken time for the artist that created the beautiful and spectacular statue of Michael Cusack in front of the Cusack stand. I also agree that the time taken into account should relate to the time from when an artist started a commission to when it was finished. It would make sense for the time to be averaged over a period so that a person is not hit with a big tax bill in year three when the work has been ongoing for a few years.

I wish to comment on the arts policy and having one blueprint for the country. The Department is located in Kerry. I brought in all the practitioners in Kerry on the Monday following my appointment. It was suggested that they should devise a strategy or template in Kerry in consultation with all the organisations and practitioners which could act as a template for the rest of the country. It is an online project which has been completed. It involved input from all practitioners, the arts office in Kerry and others. It is now available to the rest of the country. It is not a blueprint for the rest of the country but people can look at it and adopt aspects of it in other counties. What might be successful in Galway could be successful in Kerry and vice versa. In that way people could avoid pursuing dead-end projects that did not work elsewhere. It is a way for arts practitioners throughout the country to engage in dialogue online. Following that I brought together all of the arts officers, who are a great resource in this country. They are very much part of the project. I am travelling around the country and I have already been to six counties. Local arts officers bring together all the practitioners in an area and we have a conversation about what is good for the arts in the county in question, what is different there from other counties and what is required. I found the engagement to date useful.

Senator Barrett raised some important questions. So much is going on in the university sector at the moment in terms of the arts and creative industries but it is confined to the sector and is not being transmitted to the broader population. There are tenuous connections between universities and the general community. There are good examples of interaction. For example, I have been engaged with University College Cork and in other places where there are good examples of interaction. Universities are an invaluable resource waiting to be tapped. Collaboration can take place but it is not taking place to the extent that it could or should. I am delighted Senator Barrett raised the issue of more engagement between the arts community and universities given that so much is going on at the moment. Some very bright, creative people are coming up with new ideas but they are not being translated and transmitted to the broader community.