Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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196. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way the €8 million allocated to the National Concert Hall to cover the costs of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2021 was spent given that the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ to the National Concert Hall did not take place until 2022; and if a corresponding reduction in funding to RTÉ of €8 million was considered as part of budget preparations for that year. [4219/22]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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On Wednesday 19^thJanuary 2022, the Government agreed to the transfer of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and Choirs from RTÉ to the National Concert Hall with effect from 24 January 2022

It had originally been intended that the transfer would take place in 2021 and an amount of €8m was included in my Department's budget for this purpose. For various reasons it was not possible to complete the transfer during 2021 and the majority of funding was applied to other expenditure needs within my Department's Vote in accordance with public financial procedures.

RTÉ is funded through a mix of public funding and commercial revenues. The public funding element is derived from the receipts in respect of television licence fees each year, and is provided for under Section 123 of the Broadcasting Act, 2009. The Broadcasting Act 2009 also sets out the public service objects and powers of RTÉ, including, under Section 98, its independence in the performance of their public service remit. Therefore I have no function in relation to operational activities, including the annual budgeting process.