Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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471. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the agreement that has been reached regarding the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ to the NCH; the funding from the TV licence that will go towards supporting orchestras in future; the breakdown of the TV licence assigned towards supporting orchestras over the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31574/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government agreed in principle on 5 July 2018 that the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra should move from RTE to within the remit of the National Concert Hall. This followed the publication on 23 April of an independent review of orchestral services, 'Ensuring a Sustainable Future' which was commissioned by RTÉ. The review was carried out by Ms Helen Boden, a former Director of BBC Radio and a consultancy firm, Mediatique. Its key recommendation was that the National Symphony Orchestra should be a national cultural institution in its own right or within the National Concert Hall.

Following the Government Decision, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is establishing structures, including an oversight group, to identify and address the relevant issues to enable the successful transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ to the remit of the National Concert Hall. Officials from my Department will participate in this oversight group.

The distribution of TV licence fee funding to the Orchestras is an operational matter for RTÉ and the amount allocated is published in RTÉ Annual Reports. The amounts allocated to the Orchestras for 2007-2017 are as outlined in the following table.