Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 11: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport if she will provide an update on the establishment of the national opera company; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27186/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The decision to found Irish National Opera was announced by my predecessor in December last. The new Irish company will receive part of its income from the State as grant aid and it will be expected to generate the balance of its operating costs. Grant-aid to two existing companies - Opera Ireland and Opera Theatre Company – will cease once the new company is up and running as their activities will be subsumed by it. These companies, between them, cover much of the range of artistic work that would be expected from a national opera company. At present, Opera Ireland produces main-scale opera in Dublin, while Opera Theatre Company produces smaller-scale opera, both in Dublin and throughout the State, as well as operating outreach and education programmes.

An Interim Board, chaired by Mr Ray Bates, former Director of the National Lottery was appointed. The Chairs of the two existing companies, Ms Virginia Kerr of Opera Theatre Company, and Mr Thomas Lynch of Opera Ireland, are members of the Interim Board as is Sir Brian McMaster, Chairman of the National Opera Studio in the UK and former Managing Director at the Welsh National Opera. To assist in transitional arrangements, the Chief Executives of Opera Ireland and Opera Theatre Company, Mr Niall Doyle and Ms Kirsty Harris, respectively, served on the Interim Board for a period of three months and this period is now complete.

I met the Chairman (twice) and the Interim Board in recent weeks. I understand that considerable progress has been made on company formation, start-up logistics, programming planning, and so forth. In addition, two opera specialists of international repute have been engaged to advise the Department, the Arts Council, and the Interim Board and to guide formation and other activities. Opera Ireland and Opera Theatre Company are continuing their work throughout 2010, as agreed with the Arts Council to deliver their agreed respective artistic outputs for all of 2010.