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

I mentioned that the Abbey Theatre got extra funding. I did so to emphasise the type of funding being provided to cultural institutions. The Abbey Theatre will receive more than €7 million, approximately, a ninth of the current Arts Council allocation. I am making the point that the taxpayer is providing substantial funding for the cultural institutions.

I said last night that our institutions are world class at what they do. They rank ahead of many illustrious international peers. More could be done with more money, but the funding challenges I face in my Department are significant. I sometimes go the National Museum of Ireland or the National Library of Ireland, particularly the former because it gets a higher footfall, and I see visitors really enjoying our artefacts. I often ask visitors what they think of the museum and they state they are fascinated by it. They state their experience there is as good as they would have in any other part of the world. We should be very conscious of the treasures of the country and the richness of our artefacts and archeological heritage, as displayed in our museums and national cultural institutions generally. What I want to ensure nowis that Ireland's national cultural institutions can optimise the funding they receive from the taxpayer and be equipped to deal with the range of issues that will arise in the future.

One of the obvious ways in which we can help the institutions to work in a more effective, efficient and co-operative way is to encourage them to share common services. Many of the institutions have individual marketing and human resources departments, while institutions also purchase services such as security and insurance which may, if pooled, drive down total expenditure over time. This is common sense, pure and simple.

The three main galleries - the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Crawford Gallery - have put a detailed proposal together on how support and operational services can be shared, and this is being considered at present. The remit and independence of each of these institutions would not change under these proposals. The National Gallery of Ireland would continue to show historically important artwork while the Irish Museum of Modern Art would retain its focus on contemporary work. The institutions concerned would, of course, continue to decide what to exhibit and where to exhibit it.

There has been much recent commentary about the National Library of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland and the National Archives of Ireland. The latter is part of my Department and always has been. It is working very efficiently and effectively.

When it was announced there would be a review, the Secretary General of my Department set up a review unit and approached the matter very seriously. The unit has consulted all the organisations and individuals. The staff in question are those who have been in constant contact with the organisations for years. They are the staff who gave them funding and grants over the years. Those who say there was no consultation are incorrect because there certainly was. Saying there was none is absolutely unfair on the officials in my Department, who have given so much to the arts over the years and whom the Senators know. The consultation has been extensive and intensive.

The National Archives of Ireland is headed by a director with statutory independence and is advised by a voluntary board whose members offer their time pro bono. Under this structure, it does excellent and independent work. The National Archives of Ireland, of all institutions, has pioneered onIine developments, including its award-winning digitisation of the 1901 and 1911 census returns. The organisation raised €250,000 from philanthropy in the past 12 months to fund a digitisation project, and this ought to be recognised.

The National Museum of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland, which have been in existence since 1887, worked in a similar way until 2005. I am considering a range of options for these institutions, such as whether the sharing of support functions can streamline how they operate or whether they would operate more efficiently if these support functions were delivered by my Department, which already manages human resources functions for other institutions, such as the National Archives of Ireland, for example.

I want to examine the governance of institutions and consider how boards or advisory groups might perform a more outwardly proactive and international role in terms of fund-raising and philanthropy. Having collected a lot of money for cultural projects in the United Kingdom and United States over the years, possibly up to €500,000, I note there are considerable opportunities. I would like to see our cultural institutions reaching out to a diaspora that would connect with our national treasures. Senator Mac Conghail has been doing so for the Abbey Theatre-----