Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I, too, wish to talk about our national orchestras. It is political. If our classical musicians do not have a right to participate in that culture and the Government does not value our orchestras, an argument which could be made about previous years, then it is political. I welcome the report for two reasons. It states that both the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and RTÉ Concert Orchestra should be retained. I know from speaking to musicians, there were concerns that lower numbers in both orchestras would result in one merged orchestra. The second issue is that the current funding situation cannot continue. Although the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, might be happy to see it removed from being RTÉ's responsibility, the funding will still have to be found. The funding issues involved in RTÉ, particularly with the two orchestras, have been evident for some time. Voluntary redundancies have decimated both orchestras' numbers. It is, therefore, heartening to see the review recommend that funding be restored to its historic levels. Low staffing and funding have meant that the orchestras have not been able to undertake crucial roles in recent years, as mentioned by Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, such as travel and community outreach across the island. The report has also made it clear that the current funding situation cannot continue. Both Ministers should move to ring-fence that funding to allow the orchestras to return to their previous capabilities.