Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to welcome the Minister on her first occasion to the House and hope we will see her many more times.

Winning the European capital of culture 2020 bid was a massive coup for Galway city and represents a unique opportunity to showcase its cultural richness on the national and international stages. It was a joint bid by Galway City and County Councils. I recently met three Fianna Fáil Galway city councillors, Peter Keane, Michael Crowe and Ollie Crowe, and the application was high on their agenda. They all enthused about the bid. As three businesspeople in the town, there are acutely aware of the benefits it will bring to the city.

There are 300 documented artists in Galway. The creativity industry in the west generates approximately €534 million per annum and accounts for 3.4% of employment in the region. The audio-visual, television and film industry is worth €72 million to the economy with over 600 people employed in it. The €45.7 million budget to develop the European capital of culture programme will build on this tradition. Galway is uniquely situated on the edge of the Gaeltacht, which makes it a truly bilingual city and county with a diverse heritage. Accordingly, being European culture capital in 2020 will provide an opportunity to put the Irish language on the international stage.It is an exciting time for Galway, which is a UNESCO city of film and has been designated European Region of Gastronomy 2018, the first time that prestigious award has gone to Ireland. We are also about to open the much-awaited, world-class arthouse cinema, Pálás. This is a vital piece of cultural infrastructure for the city.

The team that prepared the bid worked tirelessly over the 18 month period to prepare and secure the wonderful opportunity for the region. The local community and businesses came together with a number of initiatives to help fund the bid and raise funds for the programme. This included the raising of commercial rates by 3% in 2015 and ring-fencing the resulting €1 million for projects dedicated to Galway's 2020 bid. The work of these groups must be commended. Councillors also took brave moves to garner the extra money to make this happen. It was a joint bid from the city and county councils. I welcome all the councillors who are in the Gallery today. The are the ones who took the flak on the street, and the city councillors in particular got quite a lot of hard stick. It is great that this has happened. We certainly appreciate it and it has our full support.