Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tairgím leasú a 1:

To delete all the words after “calls on the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to” and substitute the following: - “invest in and restore funding to our key cultural institutions; and

- develop a national cultural policy that recognises the fundamental role of cultural access in citizenship.”.

Molaim an leasú seo atá curtha chun cinn ag Sinn Féin. Táimid ag cloisteáil cuid mhaith faoin mholadh ó Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre, ach go háirithe, in san rún seo. I ndáiríre, téann sé i gcoinne an réalachas atá ann ó thaobh an staid ina bhfuil na hinstitiúidí náisiúnta seo agus ba mhaith liom é sin a chur ar an taifead. Ós rud é go bhfuilimid ag déanamh trácht ar chúrsaí Gaeilge, agus thagair an Seanadóir Ó Domhnaill do chúrsaí Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta, tá sé fíor-thábhachtach go mbeadh an Gaeilge lárnach in saol agus insan obair ar fad a dhéanann na hinstitiúidí seo. Faraor, tá droch-taifead ag an Ard-Mhúsaem, ach go háirithe, maidir le hAcht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla agus cur i bhfeidhm an Achta sin. Tá súil agam go mbeidh an Aire in ann dul i ngleic leis sin mar is í an Aire ar a bhfuil cúram na hinstitiúidí agus cúram na Gaeilge chomh maith céanna.

It is an accepted fact that the arts make a crucial contribution to society and that a nation’s cultural history should at all times be protected and preserved. After all, a country that does not know its own history or that is not familiar with the people and events that shape its collective psyche is in many respects akin to a stranger who, having no idea where he or she has come from, is unable to find his or her way forward. Unfortunately, Ireland’s key cultural institutions are in a state of cultural neglect and disarray due to a shocking lack of public funding and Government-inflicted death by a thousand cuts.

There is a certain irony in today’s Private Member’s motion. Only last month the President, Michael D. Higgins, a long-term member of the Labour Party stated that a 40% cut in funding for the arts and the budgets of our key cultural institutions is an illustration of the peripheral place they occupy in Irish society. While I have no wish to disagree with the President, it is more accurate to say that if it illustrates anything it is their peripheral position in the Government’s order of priorities. The President went on to say: “There can be no doubt that Irish artists and cultural institutions have, along with many sectors of Irish life, suffered significantly during a period that reaped the rewards of speculative economics and the austerity that served as a response.” Cuts of up to 40% have virtually decimated many of our key cultural institutions and left them struggling to survive. I support every word that Senator Mac Conghail said.

Next door, in the National Gallery and the National Library, the same exhibitions run for months on end. Volunteer staff work as ushers and assistants and there is a decidedly run down air to the places. The opening hours of these institutions are seriously curtailed and in Cork and Dublin such key attractions are closed on Sundays and bank holidays. With all due respect, today’s motion congratulating the Government on the work done to maintain services in the National Museum, National Library, Natural History Museum and the National Gallery and commending it for continuing to acknowledge the importance of our natural heritage to education is difficult to take seriously.

The National Museum and the National Library, which stand on either side of Leinster House, on Kildare Street, seem to exist on the edge of extinction with moments of hope succeeded by the realisation that they exist in a universe indifferent to their fate. It is truly ironic that these beautiful buildings, physically so close to the centre of political power, in reality inhabit the back of beyond. The National Library is a disaster waiting to happen in that most of its collections are not even covered by a sprinkler system, so a fire could destroy them at any time. Most Irish universities now have vastly better storage facilities for precious materials than the National Library does. International practice is for collections to be stored off site in secure, waterproof and fireproof buildings, but in Dublin the 1890 building and its adjuncts still house the bulk of the ever­growing collection in primitive conditions.

The photographic archive in Temple Bar is in danger of closure because cutbacks have made staffing levels unsustainable. Acquisitions have all but dried up.

The National Museum, meanwhile, has had to close galleries because it does not have attendants to supervise them. It has ended guided tours at its natural history branch and its branch for decorative arts and history at Collins Barracks.

There is a simple explanation for all of this and that is money. In 2008 the library and the museum got €30.8 million in public funding between them.Last year, they got €17.9 million. All publicly funded organisations have suffered, but these cuts are particularly savage. We need the Government to produce a plan, and it needs to do so forthwith, but the plan must be backed up with resources. Surely what we need to do is to decide if we want to have cultural institutions we can be proud of as a nation. If the answer is "Yes", then we need to draw up such a plan to ensure proper funding at its core and a cultural policy that recognises, promotes and fosters the fundamental role of cultural access in citizenship.

I wish to mention some local initiatives. I welcome the fact that the Government has improved its plans for the commemorations. That was triggered by the fact that Sinn Féin published its own programme and embarrassed the Government into upping its game on the issue. I welcome the proposal to develop Teach An Phiarsigh in Rosmuc but, as I have said for a number of years, I am very concerned that it will not be ready in time for the commemorations. I understand that a compulsory purchase order is being considered for the land. Planning permission, tendering and carrying out the work on the building is way behind schedule. Could the Minister clarify what negotiations are ongoing with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, on funding from Fáilte Ireland to finish the project?

Reference was made to national monuments. We have a national monument in Connemara, which happens to be on private land, namely, Ballynahinch Castle, which is on the lake in Ballynahinch. It was the home of Grainuaile fadó. Scaffolding was erected around the castle recently. I raised the issue with the Department. It is my understanding that as a national monument the Minister should have signed off on the work before any scaffolding went up on the site. I have asked departmental officials about the matter but I have not received a straight answer. Could the Minister indicate whether she signed a ministerial order allowing the project to proceed, two months in advance of the scaffolding works going up around that national monument? Was the National Museum also approached and did it give permission before the scaffolding work commenced? The castle in question is in private ownership. It is owned by a very big business man who is well known to a lot of people who listen to the national media. It is very important that the policing of our national heritage is being done properly and that the National Parks & Wildlife Service, NPWS, was also advised in advance. I would be very grateful if the Minister could give a direct answer on the issue, as I have not received one to date from the officials I have contacted, and the matter is very important.