Patrick O'Donovan

If the Deputy sends me those details, I will arrange to do that. One thing I have a concern about, which I have previously raised, is that there is an obvious rush and everyone wants to see this rush around digitisation of public services, and that is a good thing. However, every time we take a letter out of the hands of An Post, there is a gap in where the company has to find that money. Over the…

The Government is committed under the programme for Government to enhancing supports for the increased use of the Irish language. The provision of content by the independent production sector has been a key element of public service broadcasting in Ireland for many years. In particular TG4, as a publisher broadcaster, commissions the vast majority of its content from the independent sector and, as…

Tá an ceart ag an Teachta. Beidh an Bille a raibh mé ag caint faoi os comhair na Dála go luath. Coimisiún na Meán has a very important role in this in terms of making sure that ultimately the policy objectives of the Government are going to be adhered to. I have enunciated the responsibilities it has with regard to grant assistance and things like that. We have a very ambitious plan around the Iri…

I have met the streamers on a number of occasions now in the United States and online with regard to making sure the infrastructure is appropriate and adequate here in Ireland for production of television, trí mheán an Bhéarla agus na Gaeilge. As the Deputy rightly said, there has been a major uplift in the number of Irish-language productions in the last number of years and we want to continue th…

I welcome and support the publication of the new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. The Department’s obligations, and those of bodies under its aegis, are contained under pillar 3 of the new strategy and include implementing Sport Ireland’s disability inclusion in sport statement and commitment to action, encouraging the production of accessible audiovisual content, embe…

While I might not be able to give the Deputy an answer with regard to trains, I certainly hope my colleague the Minister for Transport will. Generally with regard to venue accessibility, the Deputy makes a very good point. As somebody who has photosensitivity myself and is precluded from going into a lot of different places because of lighting schemes and the like, I know unfortunately what it is …

I certainly will. The point was raised earlier and we had a good discussion on the basic income for the arts. The Deputy will be as familiar with this as myself but one of the groups of people who are particularly hardest hit are disabled artists. We want to make sure that any replacement we bring to the scheme, which is currently on a pilot basis, does take into account - if we get the resources …

In July 2025, the first strategy action plan for creative arts and health was published as a joint policy document by the Department and the Department of Health. This is a key milestone in a policy partnership that began in 2020 in response to Covid. The plan aims to create a framework that can address the intersectoral and structural issues necessary to embed arts and health in a systemic way in…

I could not agree with the Deputy. It is appropriate that his question has landed just as the Minister for Health has landed to the Chamber because this is an initiative that both Departments work on. The Minister and I are due to visit some nursing homes in the not too distant future to see the work that has taken place between the Department of Health and Creative Ireland. The Deputy is right. I…

That is nonsense. Check the record.

I thank the Deputy. In support of action 19 in the report of the night-time economy task force and as part of the Department's key role in driving the night-time economy in Ireland, we are funding nine night-time economy advisers in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Kilkenny, Sligo, Longford, Buncrana and Drogheda. The night-time economy pilots are a significant project within the night-time econom…

I thank the Deputy. The Oireachtas broadcasting unit, as the Deputy knows, is a matter for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. All parties are represented at that commission. Those are ultimately the people who have responsibility for the operation and running of the Oireachtas. It would not be appropriate for me to cut across the Ceann Comhairle and members of the Oireachtas commission. In …

I acknowledge the Deputy's support for the sector. He has been consistent in his remarks.

I thank the Deputy. I launched the grassroots music venues support scheme in March this year to support small and established music venues that promote themselves and are known in the community for programming grassroots music artists, in recognition of the contribution they make to the music industry and the wider night-time economy. The support scheme aims to provide employment opportunities for…

The Deputy will appreciate it was a pilot scheme that had a relatively small amount of money available and attracted considerable interest. The officials in my Department had to ascribe a basis for the allocation of the moneys, as I have outlined. They also had to cut it off at a certain point because there was no point in continuing secula seculorum. We will be doing this again and will have rega…

Regarding the previous question Deputy O'Donoghue raised, it will be appreciated by Deputy Ó Snodaigh that a small town like Buncrana has a night-time economy adviser that the Department made provision for. Many towns in Ireland that are much bigger than Buncrana do not have one. This is the basis of pilots. There will always be disappointment but once the pilots are concluded, that will give us a…

Ah Jesus.

Oh my God.

The question is whether I will abolish the television licence and replace it with a tax. No, I will not. That is the end of that. I have no notion of doing it. That fund is in place to support RTÉ and public service broadcasters. It also supports Sound and Vision. I have no intention of replacing it. I also have no intention of going down a cul-de-sac as the Deputy would like us to do, which would…

I am here to answer questions regarding communications, so I will answer the question on communications. There was not really a question in the Deputy's second contribution. My position remains the same. The television licence is not a tax, by the way. I do not see that reference anywhere in the legislation, so I do not know what hat he drew that rabbit out of. It is an important funding mechanism…

The Deputy is no stranger to RTÉ and he gets a fair crack of the whip there. Of course, he never uses the opportunity to express his thanks for the unbridled coverage he seems to get from RTÉ on a day in, day out basis. Those of us on this side of the House might have something to complain about if there was a fairness test. I do not, however, because it is a public service broadcaster and I am no…

The Deputy has form in this space. He does not want to pay for anything. He feels that everybody else should pay for something else other than him. He is entitled to start whatever campaign it is he wants to start to undermine another public service. I do not wish him the best of luck with it. Most people do not either. When he does get an opportunity to sit on this side of the House, with whoever…

I thank the Deputy for the question and for his remarks at the start of his contribution. The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for the arts pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. I appreciate the importance of the basic income support for artists, which is why last week I announced that the Cabinet had agreed to my proposal to an extension of six months to allo…

I agree with the Deputy, to be honest about it. It has shone a light on the precarious nature of the income, which was the initial overriding consideration my predecessor had when this scheme was brought in. Not everybody was enthusiastic about this scheme when it was brought in but, qualitatively and quantitatively, when we have the research concluded, it will demonstrate in a clear way that this…

I will take the last part first. Once I have had an opportunity to digest the material - the Deputy would accept that is not unreasonable - it will give me an opportunity to make further decisions. As regards the result of the analysis and the possible publication, we want to be sensitive to people's individual identities, etc. I do not want to compromise people one way or another. I also am consc…