Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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538. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the areas in which the €8 million additional funding promised in Budget 2021 to transfer the National Symphony Orchestra to the National Concert Hall will be spent; if the National Symphony Orchestra had been in receipt of State funding prior to the transfer; if so, the amount; and if the €8 million promised to the National Symphony Orchestra is entirely new State funding or is a transfer of its existing funding allocation within her Department. [33200/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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An allocation of €8m has been made to the National Concert Hall to allow for the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ. This will be a significant step towards the objective of enabling the orchestra to be established as a world class orchestra which will, with the NCH, provide a creative and imaginative programme strategy that will greatly enhance the offering of the combined organisation to the public.

The purpose of this funding is to cover the general operating costs of the orchestra.

The orchestra is currently funded through RTÉ and the funding provided under Budget 2021 represents new State funding.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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539. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason the €8 million allocated to the National Symphony Orchestra for 2021 is categorised as Covid-19 contingency funding in view of the fact the transfer of the orchestra to the National Concert Hall is unrelated to the pandemic; if this categorisation makes the €8 million a one-off allocation; and if it will affect the core funding allocation upon which future allocations will be based. [33201/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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A significant amount of additional funding has been allocated to my Department as part of Budget 2021, including an increased allocation to provide for the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ to the National Concert Hall to cover the estimated operating costs of the orchestra during 2021.

The question of funding for all activities under the remit of my Department for future years, including the National Concert Hall, will be considered as part of the estimates process for those years in the usual fashion.