Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank her for a fine speech, which was passionate and shows her clear commitment to her Ministry. I welcome Fianna Fáil's introduction of a motion in regard to the arts, albeit one which, as other speakers have alluded to, is entirely motivated by political opportunism. This is a shame because I feel the arts should be out of reach of political opportunism. As Senator Norris said, it is the soul of the country. In seeking to promote this debate under the guise of supposedly talking about the arts, the Fianna Fáil Members show exactly what the arts mean to them - a political football and little more, and an effort to prolong the controversy that has gone on for the last number of weeks.

Over the course of the recession, it has at times been considered too easy to put the arts to the back of the agenda. However, in defence of this Government, it has worked hard to keep the arts on the agenda and has been able to set forth the agenda for the arts and make sure that our institutions are defended when it comes to the budget. As far as I am concerned, the controversy of the last number of weeks has been a major distraction for the Minister and her committed officials from the job at hand, especially in the context of the budget. I am very pleased to hear the Minister's commitments with regard to the intensive budget negotiations that are currently under way.

The arts are something for which we are globally recognised, as other speakers have said, and a field in which we can, as a nation, invest and benefit if we do so in a strategic manner. The arts are often wrongly viewed as a drain on resources. Our books, plays, festivals and works of art are renowned across the world and we punch way above our weight internationally. We must ensure we are working to get the most out of these and ensure our talent is celebrated and nurtured through a fully rounded education within which the arts plays a role. The protection of the arts needs to be seen as a statement of intent. It serves to show that Ireland continues to treasure its art and the institutions that contain that art and that work, in order to encourage artists also.

All that being said, however, I find it interesting, or maybe frustrating or irritating, that Fianna Fáil has decided to raise the issue of guaranteeing the independence of the national cultural institutions and their boards from political interference. It is interesting because it is not so long ago that Pat Carey, as Minister, appointed a former Fianna Fáil Deputy to the Irish Film Classification Office board. What is the difference? The person, whose name I will not mention, was on a board of ten appointees who received an average of €40,000 each in fees and expenses in that year. This Fianna Fáil cronyism and largesse of the time stands in stark contrast to our principles of reducing expenses. Is this the type of independence for our national cultural institutions that Fianna Fáil is seeking? Is this the sort of arm's-length approach they are looking for? The hypocrisy is mind-blowing.

I find it interesting that Fianna Fáil has tried to engage in a debate on political cronyism. It is interesting because, right up to even the last days of its term, as Senator Cummins has already mentioned, Fianna Fáil was stuffing boards even more quickly than it had given every taxpayer in the country an absolute stuffing. Senator Cummins mentioned only the arts but, between January and March 2011, 182 board appointments were made by Fianna Fáil. That is really something else. They just cannot help it. Meanwhile, we have taken steps to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again by publicly advertising all appointments to State boards from this point on.