Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is a historic day because we are passing a new Bill that copperfastens the future of the National Concert Hall. I congratulate the Minister because it is the first Bill she has guided through as Minister for arts and culture. She should be proud of herself, particularly because she became quite an open and listening Minister, taking everything on board. The debates, particularly in the Seanad, were very supportive of her.

I congratulate her officials as well on the support they gave her, particularly on sections 8 and 28. Section 8 copperfastens the independence of the National Concert Hall in terms of artistic freedom and having neither fear nor favour with regard to the Government of the day. Section 28 acknowledges the commercial aspect of the National Concert Hall, that it is a business and needs to sell tickets as well as needing, as Senator Ó Clochartaigh put it quite eloquently, to include a diverse range of our cultural expression and manifestation. I thank the Minister and her officials for this Bill and I wish the new board of the National Concert Hall and its chief executive well in 2016, when it celebrates the centenary of the Proclamation.