This debate has not been helped by speculation. The debate in the Seanad has had a different tone generally than that in the Dáil last night. Dismantling the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 was never in my plan, nor was impinging on the arm's length principle as it applies to the Arts Council. If one pores over the record from 2003, one will note I argued for hours to protect that principle. Senator Fiach Mac Conghail was adviser to the then Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue. I am very conscious of the freedom and independence of our national cultural institutions. Undermining the curatorial and programming independence of the national cultural institutions was never in my plans, and our counter-motion confirms the Government's position in that regard.