Fiach MacConghail (Independent)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann recognises:

Ireland's obligations under Article 27(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits";

Ireland's national cultural institutions do offer social, economic and educational opportunities that can contribute positively to the lives of all citizens;

the many successful initiatives by Ireland's national cultural institutions which contribute to the enhancement of Ireland's reputation abroad and among the diaspora; and

the importance of all our national cultural institutions in delivering a cultural programme in support of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2013 and for the Gathering Ireland 2013 event.

That Seanad Éireann welcomes:

the statement in the programme for Government 2011-2016 that the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht "will make strategic policy formulation the primary function of the Department, with line agencies and bodies responsible for policy implementation";

the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht statement of strategy 2011-2014 mandate "to foster, promote and support Ireland's world-class artistic and cultural strengths, at home and abroad".

That Seanad Éireann notes:

that the public service reform plan, 17 November 2011, addresses a wide range of issues such as: implementation of shared services models for HR, payroll, pensions; evaluation of new business models for the delivery of non-core services; reform of public procurement processes and property rationalisation; and reducing costs, addressing duplication and eliminating waste to support job creation;

that under the public service reform plan bodies to be rationalised, amalgamated or abolished in 2012 include the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Crawford Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Archives of Ireland, the Irish Manuscripts Commission, An Comisinéar Teanga, the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland;

that under the public service reform plan, candidate bodies for critical review by the end of June 2012 include the Chester Beatty Library, the Placenames Commission, the Heritage Council and Culture Ireland; and

that all national cultural institutions understand the need to reduce budgets; show value for money; and support the need for the implementation of a shared services model under the public service reform plan.

That Seanad Éireann calls on the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht:

to publish the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht's response to the public service reform plan, including the cost-benefit analysis and projected savings;

to undertake a consultation process similar to the process on the new human rights and equality body, thereby establishing a working group, including representatives of the national cultural institution affected by the public service reform plan and the public; calling for submissions to assist the discussions of the working group; publishing the report of the working group; presenting the Minister's plan to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht;

to realise the aforementioned commitment in the programme for Government, by establishing a policy and research unit within the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in order that annual qualitative and quantitative research can be carried out to increase our understanding of the public value of the arts; and

to protect the "arm's length principle" between the national cultural institutions and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht by retaining independent boards of directors; appointing board members on a non-remunerated basis; publically advertising the position of director of the National Museum of Ireland; the director of the National Archives of Ireland and the CEO of Culture Ireland.

I welcome the Minister to debate the motion as proposed by the group of Independent Senators. This is a timely debate, one in which I support the Minister and the Government in highlighting how we can enhance, protect and sustain the role of culture and, in particular, the national cultural institutions in the Republic. Therefore, I propose the motion which Senator Jillian van Turnhout will second.

There are a couple of issues I wish to highlight. I am director of the national theatre, the Abbey Theatre, one of Ireland's national cultural institutions. When the Taoiseach appointed me to the Seanad a little over one year ago, I knew my role as director of the Abbey Theatre, my role as a citizen and my role as a Senator would add to the challenges and the opportunities I would have in contributing to the debate and the public policy remit of the Seanad.

The reason the motion is before the House is that there has been no meaningful public consultation; there is no other reason. National cultural institutions belong to the citizens of the Republic who have a right which has been denied to them to have the important reform process discussed in public. With the motion, I could have stayed quiet and said nothing. The funding for the Abbey Theatre comes from the Arts Council and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. My relationship with the Minister and his Department has always been cordial, professional, supportive and beneficial to the arts in Ireland.

The Taoiseach has empowered me to speak on issues about which I care and know. I have heard with disquiet that there have been concerns expressed about my contribution to this debate. I take my position as director of the national theatre extremely seriously and I am totally committed to it, but I also have the right and the responsibility as a citizen and a Senator to engage in a debate about which I am passionate. In his speech in the Dáil last night the only national cultural Institution the Minister singled out specifically in terms of funding was the Abbey Theatre which received €7.1 million a year from another national cultural institution - the Arts Council. We have also received a grant from the Minister's Department this year for the removal of asbestos and to meet capital costs. I am indebted to the Minister whom I thank on behalf of the board of the Abbey Theatre.

I support the Minister's vision and work programme. We are in difficult financial times, but our approach to all sectors of society needs to be carefully considered and judged before we consider dismantling or restructuring the way we work. I wholeheartedly applaud and thank the Minister on behalf of the arts community and the public who have access to the arts for the funding he has managed to obtain. A cut of only 3% is a remarkable political result.

There is a need for a more extensive debate on the governance and policy for the arts sector; perhaps there is a need for a Green Paper on the opportunities and challenges facing the arts in the 21st century. The Minister has been in the job for the past 16 months and we have yet to hear his vision of how we should embrace, use and support the arts in the new era in the Republic.

In the programme for Government it is clearly set out that the Department will take a lead role in "making strategic policy formulation the primary function of the Department, with line agencies and bodies responsible for policy implementation". When the Minister examines his Department's strategy statement arising from the programme of the Government commitment, he will note that the mandate "is to foster, promote and support Ireland's world-class artistic and cultural strengths, at home and abroad". In order to achieve the strategic policy formulation goal, the Department requires an arts policy unit with dedicated research staff who can commission and analyse data, surveys and research material.

As a founding member and proud supporter of the National Campaign for the Arts, I know that one of the emerging aspects of our research work is the lack of data on levels of cultural participation, cultural consumption patterns and barriers to increased participation. Arts and culture support tourism, create jobs and enhance reputation, but how do we measure the role of the arts and culture in our citizens' lives? Do we know, on a regular basis, how many of our citizens engage or have access to the arts and is there a better way for us to inform policy for the arts? I notice that on the Department's website there is very little data and research available to us on these issues.

We need to move beyond the economic, the consumer and the marketplace and to accept the public value of the arts, the role of the citizen and the place of the arts in our society. I am happy to volunteer to support the Minister in this, as is Senator Marie Louise O'Donnell, who could not attend this afternoon.

The Minister is part of a Government that agreed on the public sector reform plan last November. He also has all of Ireland's cultural heritage and institutions available to him within his ministerial remit. It was a lost opportunity for him between November and now not to address the economic challenge as a way to debate in public and to consult in public how these institutions could react, change and develop under the public sector reform plan. It was a lost opportunity for the Minister not to take a lead on this so that the citizen and the taxpayer could contribute to the debate. This was done in other Departments quite efficiently. The reason independent Senators are moving this motion is that the Minister's Department's actions will have an adverse impact on the quality and rigour of the output of the institutions which will ultimately have an impact on audiences. No board or cultural institution is above review or examination with regard to the efficiency of service delivered to the public. That includes all the cultural institutions listed in today's motion. No board or cultural institution is above the delivery of the efficiencies and shared services that will give better value to the taxpayer. A review is good, providing it is open, transparent, meaningful and complete. Has the Minister commissioned any cost-benefit analysis or seen any reports on the potential savings of any of these proposed mergers or amalgamations?

The Minister has stressed the need for reform and review. All organisations are open to that, but international precedents show repeatedly that a well-structured efficient board is an essential part of an organisation managing and achieving significant reform. Ireland does not have a good history of effective board governance - we need only look at our banks - and this is an opportunity to address this in a positive way, to look at the full potential a board can play not just in fund-raising, but in supporting an organisation to meet current challenges and manage a process of reform. Tomorrow, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, will launch a new Government code of governance to charitable and voluntary organisations. Central to the code is that all organisation have a board to comply with governance codes.

In his contribution to a debate in the Dáil last evening, the Minister stated his commitment to the independence of the cultural and programming aspects of the institutions. That, however, does not go far enough. The independence he looks for is achieved by an independent board. I know that as director of the Abbey Theatre and I knew it as director of the Project Arts Centre. This is the reassurance we are looking for in our motion today. The Government's amendment to our motion does not guarantee to the House that the Minister will not repeal or seek amendments to the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997.

Culture Ireland has been one of the success stories of the arts over the last five years. It has worked tirelessly and imaginatively to support the Government in enhancing Ireland's reputational recovery abroad, and this is acknowledged in the Government amendment to the motion. This is a body which had a board and a director and worked well within the Minister's Department, but it was by-passed recently when the Minister appointed, without competition, a director of this body. Perhaps the board rubber-stamped this, but there has been no public comment from it. There is now an impression, which I know is not the Minister's intention, that the arms-length principle of Culture Ireland is well and truly broken. In our motion this afternoon, I call on the Minister to publicly advertise the positions of director of the National Archives, director of Culture Ireland and Director of the National Museum of Ireland. The Government amendment does not go far enough in this particular regard. The only way to support programming independence is through good governance, and that means independent boards who appoint independent directors. This, in turn, will support the work of artists and archivists and the citizens who benefit from it. It is on this basis that I continue to propose our motion.