Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On the day that is in it, I will take the opportunity to congratulate all our Irish Oscar nominees. I am so delighted that "An Cailín Ciúin" has made history today as the first Irish language film to be nominated. Beidh sé go hiontach ár dteanga dhúchais a bheith á cur os comhair an tsaoil mhóir oíche na nOscars. I also congratulate Paul Mescal and Colin Farrell for their best actor nominations, and, of course, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon. The record number of Irish nominations is a testament to the strength of Irish culture and arts. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis na daoine go léir a ainmníodh. Gan amhras, léiríonn siad go léir cumhacht na hÉireann mar fhórsa cultúrtha.

I will return now to another stronghold of Irish arts and culture, namely, the National Concert Hall, NCH. Is Bille tábhachtach é agus tá áthas orm é a chur faoi bhráid an Tí. The purpose of the Bill is to provide the legal framework to support the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra, NSO, and choirs from RTÉ to the National Concert Hall. This legislation represents a critical step forward for the concert hall as Ireland's national cultural institution for music by making explicit the role of the orchestra within that institution and formalising the relationship that has been in place since the establishment of the concert hall.

It also strengthens the State's indemnity for the loan of international art, ensuring that our citizens can continue to enjoy access to important international exhibitions. Since the National Symphony Orchestra performed at the inaugural concert of the National Concert Hall in 1981, the orchestra and concert hall have been inextricably entwined in the public consciousness, most notably through their Friday night concerts. The NSO was founded by RTÉ in 1948 at a time when there was intense demand for broadcast orchestral music. Since then, however, the nature of media and its consumption have been transformed. This, coupled with the acute operational challenges facing the orchestra, has raised questions as to the appropriateness of its continued location within RTÉ. There was also a growing recognition that the orchestra could no longer reach its fullest potential within the structures of a public service broadcaster.

In response to these challenges, RTÉ commissioned a report from consultant, Ms Helen Boaden, which was published in April 2018. It recommended that the orchestra become a national cultural institution in its own right or be positioned within the NCH and funded directly by Government. The report also proposed that the orchestra be restored to its historical levels of staffing and activity. For my part, this recommendation is critical to achieving greater engagement with audiences, developing education programmes and expanding the reach of the orchestra.

In July 2018, the Government agreed that the NSO should be brought within the concert hall's remit. The Department commissioned a report that estimated the full operational costs of the orchestra to be approximately €8 million per annum. To support this process, my Department established an oversight group and a working group comprising representatives from the orchestra, choirs, RTÉ, the concert hall and the unions. During this process, it was agreed that the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, RTÉ Cór Linn and RTÉ Cór na nÓg should also transfer to the concert hall given the collaborative nature of their work. Protecting the staff and ensuring that their rights were maintained was a key consideration throughout the stakeholder engagement. The Department engaged a financial consultant to provide advice on pensions and benefits to transferring employees. Following extensive consultation, all queries relating to the employees terms and conditions and pension entitlements were fully addressed. Having completed the consultation, the Government approved the transfer of the orchestra and choirs from the RTÉ to the NCH on an administrative basis on 24 January 2022. This transfer was affected on the advice that sections 7 and 9 of the National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Act 2015 were broad enough to include the transfer of the NSO as part of the broader function of the hall to promote and support the performance of music. The transfer also complied with transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations, TUPE, where transferring members of the NSO and choirs were guaranteed to retain the terms and conditions the enjoyed in RTÉ.

Although the transfer was affected on an administrative basis within the existing legislation, I believe that our objective of a strengthened orchestra requires additional legislative underpinning. To that end, the Bill specifically provides for a new function for the concert hall for the management of the orchestra. It also provides for a voice for the orchestra at the highest levels with the inclusion of a new board member with orchestral expertise. I am pleased to inform the House that today, on the one-year anniversary of the transfer, the National Symphony Orchestra is in the process of being restored to its full playing complement. My Department has since provided sanction to the hall to recruit a music librarian and six musician posts on a permanent basis as well as more than 20 fixed-term player contract positions while the orchestra reviews its long-term needs. This is in addition to a significant number of additional support positions to meet the programming and other needs of the orchestra.

Over the year, it also came to my attention that some of the orchestra's musical instruments required replacement. My Department has since provided substantial support to the concert hall for the purchase of a range of international quality instruments. All this investment is taking place within the overall redevelopment of the National Concert Hall as part of the implementation of this Government's national development plan. The concert hall, with the Office of Public Works, OPW, has developed exciting plans for the Earlsfort Terrace site. I was delighted to announce the Government's approval in principle of the project last month. The redevelopment plans will create a fit-for purpose 21st century auditorium that will establish the concert hall as the cultural institution for music, providing for new public spaces, new learning and participation facilities and spaces to support music resource organisation that are essential to our music ecology and much more.

The Bill includes an amendment I introduced on Committee Stage in the Dáil. Section 14 amends the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 to increase the limit of the State's indemnity for the loan of cultural objects from outside the State from €190 million to €1.6 billion. The original figure is no longer fit for purpose as it does not account for the significant appreciation in the values of artworks and cultural artefacts, nor for the recent growth in opportunities for important touring exhibitions to come to Ireland. Currently, our cultural institutions must arrange commercial insurance, which is a significant additional overhead. The State indemnity enables our cultural institutions to meet the requirements of international museums and collectors, making Ireland a more attractive candidate for high-profile exhibitions.

Returning to the detail of the detail of the Bill, I acknowledge the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media and its examination of the general scheme.The purpose of the Bill is to bring the orchestra and choirs within the statutory framework of the concert hall, providing for appropriate reporting to me and to the Oireachtas. It also provides for the legal transfer of all undertakings related to the orchestra to the concert hall as well as amending the Broadcasting Act 2009 to reflect the transfer of the orchestra from RTÉ.

I will now introduce the specific provisions of the Bill. The Bill is divided into four Parts. Part 1 deals with general provisions such as the Short Title and definitions of terms in the legislation. Part 2 provides for the transfer of functions, staff, property, and liabilities relating to the orchestra and choirs from RTÉ to the NCH. These provisions date from the transfer day of 24 January 2022. This Part amends the National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Act 2015 by inserting a number of new sections into the principal Act.

Section 4 provides for the transfer of functions, administration and business relating to the orchestra and choirs from RTÉ to the NCH on the transfer day. Sections 5 to 8, inclusive, are technical in nature and provide for the transfer of all undertakings, staff, assets and liabilities relating to the orchestra and choirs to the NCH on the transfer day.

Section 9 substitutes the name of the National Concert Hall for that of RTÉ in any legal proceedings relating to the orchestra or choirs while section 10 provides that every act done by RTÉ or the NCH in respect of the transfer prior to the commencement of this part shall be deemed valid and effectual for all purposes.

Part 3 sets out a number of amendments to the principal Act to reflect the integration of the orchestra and choirs into the operation of the NCH. In this regard, the critical section is section 11, which amends section 7 of the principal Act by adding a new function for the maintenance and operation of an orchestra and choir to the functions of the concert hall.

Section 12 builds on this by including the orchestra in the corporate governance structures of the concert hall. It does this by amending section 10 of the principal Act to increase the membership of the board from eight members to nine. This additional board member is required to have expertise in the development of orchestras, ensuring that the appropriate expertise is present on the board at all times. Following on from that, section 13 is a technical amendment to increase the quorum for board meetings from four to five.

As I outlined previously, in Part 4, section 14 amends the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 to increase the limit of the State's indemnity for the loan of cultural objects from outside the State from €190 million to €1.6 billion.

The final Part, Part 5, amends the functions of RTÉ, as set out in section 114 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. Section 15 replaces RTÉ's previous function to manage orchestras and choirs with the function of managing a concert orchestra only.

Although largely technical in nature, the Bill represents the culmination of the journey that the NSO, the NCH, RTÉ, myself and my Department have been on in recent years to build a stronger orchestra within a dedicated national cultural institution for music. The legislation represents the beginning of a new chapter, as we turn our minds to supporting the orchestra and the concert hall to thrive in an evolving environment and to remain at the heart of music in Ireland for generations to come. When President Hillery opened the National Concert Hall in 1981, he described it as "the realisation of a dream long cherished". This Bill brings that dream, shared by music and arts lovers nationwide, closer to reality. Mar a deireann an seanfhocal, is fearr súil romhat ná dhá shúil i do dhiaidh. Táim cinnte go bhfuilimid go léir ag cur ár súile romhainn leis an mBille seo. I am delighted to bring the Bill before the Seanad. I look forward to hearing the contributions throughout Second Stage. I commend the Bill to the House.