James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the future investment which is planned for the National Opera House, County Wexford in line with the creative Ireland programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27609/17]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The National Opera House in Wexford was constructed in 2008 – 2010 with funding of €31 million from my Department. My Department is engaging with the Office of Public Works and the National Opera House in terms of the ongoing capital needs to protect this public investment. The Office of Public Work had a key role in designing and managing the construction of the Opera House and has the necessary expertise in this area. My Department will, in turn, consider any requests for capital funding in the context of the advice provided by the OPW and in light of the resources available to the Department and the demands on those resources.The National Opera House is a wonderful venue and is the home of Wexford Festival Opera which is one of the most successful festivals in the world. Recently Wexford Festival Opera won the highly coveted Best Festival category at the International Opera Awards in London ahead of other shortlisted leading international opera festivals in the UK, France, Italy and the United States.

We can all be proud of the achievements and excellence of the annual Wexford Opera Festival. The state-of-the-art Opera House allows the Festival to attract national and international audiences to experience the experience the Opera at the highest levels and is an inspiration for what this Government is seeking to achieve through the Creative Ireland Programmenationwide.