Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

460. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to outline every update provided to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in relation to the Arts Council IT project since the project was first approved in 2019, specifying whether the update included information on costs and the date of the update; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7265/25]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

461. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to outline every update provided to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in relation to the Arts Council IT project since the project was first approved in 2019, specifying whether the update included information on costs and the date of the update; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7266/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 460 and 461 together.

In July 2024, the Secretary General of the Department initiated an examination of the Arts Council's ICT project which was completed on 6 February 2025. I published the Report on the Examination of the Arts Council Business Transformation Project on the 12th of February on the Department's website. It makes a number of key findings and 36 recommendations which will be implemented by my Department and the Arts Council.

Chapter 7 of the Report (on the Role of the Department) sets out the flows of information from the Arts Council to the Department. While there were flows of information to the Department, no progress report issued to the then Minister or Secretary General in respect of this project prior to the Summer of 2024, either directly from the Arts Council or from within the Department.