Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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984.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated cost of extending the opening hours of national cultural institutions on days when operating to 10pm. [33471/24]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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985.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated cost of extending the opening hours of local and regional museums and galleries in State ownership on days when operating to 10pm; and to provide a list of each such institutions. [33472/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 984 and 985 together.

There are numerous factors which can impact on the costs of extending the opening hours of a National Cultural Institution, including for example additional staff costs in the form of overtime payments or the necessity to increase overall staff numbers to maintain an equal level of service to evening visitors to a National Cultural Institutions. There are also additional non-pay costs that may be incurred as a result of longer opening hours, such as cleaning and maintenance, energy consumption, and other ancillary costs.

An examination of the cost implications of extending the opening hours of National Cultural Institutions to 10PM was carried out by my Department in 2023, in consultation with the National Cultural Institutions. The estimated costs are shown in the table below.

It should be noted that the National Archives is also National Cultural Institution but is a functional division of my Department and the staff costs are borne from within my Department's overall allocation for pay.

While the figures shown above continue to provide useful estimate of the costs involved, any specific proposal to extend the opening hours of National Cultural Institutions would require a detailed updated examination of all direct and indirect costs, and an appraisal of the value that would be provided in terms of meeting unmet visitor demand for accessibility to the National Cultural Institutions outside of the existing opening hours.

It should be noted that the National Concert Hall and the Abbey Theatre, which are National Cultural Institutions, already remain open to 10PM or later on numerous occasions during the year to facilitate the holding of concerts, plays and similar events.

I also wish to highlight the "After Hours at the Museum Scheme" which was launched in 2023 to support museums and galleries across the country to open later, host new live events and encourage diversity of the cultural offering. Over 50 venues took part around the country, including some of our National Cultural Institutions, hosting a variety of activities from concerts, comedy nights, curator talks, late night tours, artefact drawing to DJ sets.

Outside of the National Cultural Institutions set out in the table above, the State does not generally establish or operate local and regional museums and galleries, or provide direct operational funding for these. Such needs are usually addressed in the first instance by local authorities, most often in association with community groups.