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Cabinet Committees

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 July 2017

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Questions (7)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

7. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will consider establishing a Cabinet committee on the arts. [31466/17]

View answer

Oral answers (20 contributions)

The Government established a number of Cabinet committees last week, of which one, Cabinet sub-committee B, will deal with all matters pertaining to the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which has responsibility for the arts. The intent in the new configuration of Cabinet committees is to give a sharper co-ordinated approach on policy matters to ensure a whole-of-Government perspective. In addition, as I stated yesterday, I intend to do a lot more on a bilateral level with Ministers to try to drive the agenda and get things done.

As I was saying, the political establishment, which I will define for Deputy Martin as being the people who have dominated the State for the past 75 years, like a narrative in which they say they are the people in favour of enterprise and jobs whereas the left just wants to give out about things.

The lecture continues.

The truth is that we just want different priorities in developing jobs and enterprise. One of those, which we have talked about incessantly, and at the time of the previous budget, People Before Profit was the only group of people to include it in their budget submission, is the need to increase the arts budget significantly and to recognise the enormous, cultural, economic and social potential of the arts.

Is this Question Time?

There has been some rhetorical acknowledgement of that issue by the Government and Fianna Fáil, largely because of the work of the National Campaign for the Arts and others. In reality, however, the arts budget for 2017 was reduced by 16% on what it was in 2016 and we are at the bottom of the league table when it comes to expenditure on arts as a proportion of gross domestic product, GDP. We do not recognise the value, potential, work or contribution of artists. There is probably nothing that has enhanced Ireland's reputation at every level on the international stage more than arts, poetry and music, yet the level of interest of the political establishment beyond rhetoric is pathetic. That is borne out by the pitifully low level of investment in the arts. Is the Taoiseach's new regime going to recognise this huge gap, begin to back the arts and artists and invest in our cultural talent?

Yesterday, we had a discussion with the Taoiseach about Cabinet committees and he managed to provide almost zero detail on how these new cumbersome committees will work apart from the fact there will be a constantly changing membership. The idea that the old committees had to be abolished because too many were attending – I think the Taoiseach said there were up to 30 or 40 – is ridiculous because the Taoiseach has it in his power to say only so many should attend and keep it streamlined, as was once the case. There is a serious concern that this new set-up will reduce transparency and co-ordination by rolling a wide range of issues into the one committee. Up to the present we could at least judge the level of activity on health and judicial reform and other areas by seeing the number of meetings which these committees held. Under the new arrangements, even this small amount of information will not be available. The number of my questions that have been transferred by the Taoiseach's office or submitted for disqualification has expanded fairly dramatically in the past three weeks. Once these committees are in operation, what level of detail will the Taoiseach be willing to provide to the House on their agendas, activity and the substance of their discussions?

It is important that a Cabinet committee on the arts be established. I disagree fundamentally with Deputy Boyd Barrett on his criticisms of previous Governments. They did not dominate. They were elected in a parliamentary democracy. One of our enduring legacies to the nation was that during the rise of fascism, we managed to produce a republican constitution in 1937 when the rest of Europe was going fascist. The Deputy should never forget that.

We snuffed out the Blueshirts for a while.

We did that and it is an enduring document that I am proud of. The arts have had cycles of being up and down. There have been good periods when Governments did a lot for the arts. This House, generally speaking, is committed to them. I agree the Government could do more and that an arts committee should be established.

The fact the Taoiseach has decided to drop the Cabinet committees on the arts and on the Irish language is a blow for both. While arguably the lack of support for the Irish language and the lack of adequate funding for, or recognition of, the arts are evidence that some committees have not made a huge difference in respect of Government policy, nonetheless the scrapping of half these committees means that these important matters will get even less attention and be given even less priority. That is a matter of deep concern. The Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy McHugh, said that one of the new committees on social policy and the committee on the economy will have direct responsibility for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. He says this will provide a greater focus. How does the Taoiseach expect this to happen?

The arts are the essence of what we are. They are bread and roses. In their widest form, particularly in working class communities, the arts can be uplifting. They can also be an economic driver. The Government's approach to the arts has been pitiable despite the fact the arts are most of what Ireland is best appreciated for in the wider world. An example of Fine Gael's approach to this was the appointment of John McNulty of that party to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, IMMA, by a previous Taoiseach merely to facilitate a nomination for a Seanad election. We need to stop messing about with these essential issues. Will the Taoiseach reconsider creating a dedicated arts and heritage Cabinet committee to drive that work forward?

I am glad that it is external artists who make the judgment on the value of previous Administrations rather than Deputy Boyd Barrett. Their view of Ministers such as President Michael D. Higgins and the contribution he and many of his successors-----

I was not talking about Michael D.

Deputy Boyd Barrett disparaged everybody in one broad stroke. Some exemplary-----

Michael D. was never part of the political establishment.

He was a member of the Labour Party. He was a Minister of Government.

He was on the left wing of the Labour Party.

He was mainstream pretty quickly.

He was an honourable exception.

Some exemplary officeholders have contributed. A number of things are important and I ask the Taoiseach and the relevant Minister, who is sitting beside him, to consider a number of things. First is the multi-annual funding of the arts, which we provide for some of the major art organisations like the Gate or the Abbey. It is impossible for significant organisations to plan without a commitment to a three-year horizon at least. Multi-annual budgeting is something I tried to introduce myself across Departments. For arts bodies to plan or hire artists, it is necessary to think about a timeframe well beyond 12 months. It is something we might do. One of the things we sought to do in this year's budget was to ensure that the significant boost in the capital spend for the 1916 centenary commemorations would be embedded as a capital spend in the arts. Unfortunately, it was not done. While some residual funding was embedded, not all was provided. These are a few of the issues a Cabinet sub-committee, which I hope will find time to debate the arts, should address.

I welcome very much and accept the genuine nature of the supportive comments other leaders have made on the arts. The budget increase for the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for last year was between €18 million and €20 million. This included a €5 million, or 8%, increase in the annual budget for the Arts Council, an increase in the budgets of all of the national cultural institutions, €2 million to allow for the opening of the newly restored historic wings at the National Gallery of Ireland, which are now open, the opening of Killarney House, which took place the other day, an increase of €2 million for the Irish Film Board, an increase of €1 million for Culture Ireland and funding of €5 million for the implementation of the Creative Ireland programme for 2017 to 2022. While it was the case that there were budget reductions during the downturn when budgets were being decreased in all areas, people can see from the actions of the new Government that when there is a little bit more space and more resources, the arts are getting their fair share in the increases I have just outlined. Other measures are in place. Creative Ireland is very exciting and I am very much behind it. It is now under way. We had Cruinniú na Cásca over Easter and there are local government plans in place. There is €5 million for that this year. In addition, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I worked together to change the social welfare code to exempt self-employed artists from normal activation measures. They can now concentrate on their art for a time without having to go through the normal activation procedures provided they are recognised by a recognised arts body.

I engage with people in the arts sector a great deal. It is an area I have been interested in myself. I will be at the Galway Film Fleadh on Thursday where one of my friends is premiering "Pilgrimage". I recommend people go and see it if they get a chance. When I meet people who are interested in or involved in the arts, they tend to ask me about funding. Sometimes, they ask me about multi-annual funding. I agree with Deputy Howlin's comments in that regard. It would be much better if we could have multi-annual funding horizons in place for the national cultural institutions and the Arts Council. It is not something I can guarantee will be in the next budget but it is something I would like to see there. I have never had a single person involved in the arts or culture ask me how many times a sub-committee met. It is really not top of the list of concerns of those involved in the arts and culture whether we have a sub-committee and how often it meets. What they are interested in is funding generally and funding on a multi-annual basis. Funding will increase next year.

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