Patrick O'Donovan

Mar a dúirt mé leis an Teachta Connolly níos luaithe ar maidin, bhí an tAire, an Teachta Calleary, dóchasach go mbeadh sé anseo chun na ceisteanna sin a fhreagairt ach tá cúrsaí pearsanta aige faoi láthair agus níl sé in ann teacht go dtí an Teach ar maidin. Tá cruinniú aige an tseachtain seo chugainn le hÚdarás na Gaeltachta chun an ábhar a phlé. Tá an-suim aige i gcúrsaí tithíochta. Tá limistéar…

Tuigim an fhadhb. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta, nuair a bhí mé i m’Aire Stáit le cúraimí na Gaeltachta agus na Gaeilge fúm, rinne mé mo dhícheall an t-ábhar sin a phlé agus a réiteach. Níl aon amhras agam ach gur ceist dheacair í. Tá an-chuid oibre déanta ag an Roinn Gaeltachta agus an Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta chun an ábhar sin a réiteach. Mar a dúirt mé níos luaithe agus mé…

Aontaím leis an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta Ó Snodaigh maidir le cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an t-ábhar sin. Bhí ceist eile aige ar an ábhar sin ach tá an t-am caite againn. Beidh ar an Aire, an Teachta Calleary, déileáil leis an ábhar sin sa Bhille atá os comhair na Dála faoi láthair. Dúirt sé liom go mbeidh sé in ann é sin a phlé le hurlabhraithe Gaeltachta agus Gaelainne na bpáirtithe uile sa …

For today's vote on the Ceann Comhairle to be warranted, one would have imagined that she would have done something wrong last week. I was sitting in this seat, close to the Ceann Comhairle - the only other person in front was the Taoiseach - so I had the benefit of hearing the Chief Whip, the Taoiseach in his efforts to try to be heard and the Ceann Comhairle throughout all of it. The only people…

Just let me finish.

You had a good run last week. Of all parties, Labour should remember what was done to its former leader, Joan Burton, another woman who held a constitutional officer position and who herself had to confront behaviour not too dissimilar from what we saw-----

Deputy Devine will have her chance in a minute. It was not too dissimilar from what happened in this Chamber last week. All our parties are trying to encourage women into politics, but all of a sudden, the united leader of the Opposition has emerged and the Labour Party just joined in as a kind of silent little lamb. In the process of doing that-----

Deputy Bacik today gave a great oration-----

-----about the importance of Ireland having a clear position with regard to trade and our position in the world. What have the Labour Party and other parties in here done? They have withdrawn pairs. Today's vote was always inevitable-----

-----because they could not accept the reality that a Government had been formed and we wanted to get on and govern. The main party opposite could never accept that-----

-----and now we have the two centre-left parties just coming along like mud flaps.

Less patronising now.

First, I congratulate Deputy Byrne and wish her well in her role as an Opposition spokesperson. I will make it clear from the outset that there is no intention to replace the television license fee. The previous Government made a decision last July that the licence fee should be reformed and enhanced, not abolished. It is in that context that the programme for Government sets out our commitment to…

The opening line of my reply made clear where the Government is on the previous Government decision but, to put it in context for the Deputy, in 2020 the total licence fee revenue was of the order of €222 million. The latest figure for 2024 is approximately €195 million. I am not sure where the Deputy thinks that money will come from in the absence of the licence fee. Does she think it should come…

I accept that the television licence is very important but €195 million is a fairly big hole. If Sinn Féin is now proposing I abolish it, I wonder where I will get €195 million. Should I get it from health, social welfare, housing or roads? That is a lot of money. If we are advocating for the abolition of a fee, the abolition of a charge, the reduction of a tax and that everybody gets everything f…

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Teachta Farrelly. Go n-éirí go geal leis. I hope he has an enjoyable period of time here and I wish him the best of luck in his endeavours, along with the other Deputies across the House and the new Deputies I see around me. As Minister, I have recently brought, in quick succession, two annual reports of bodies under the aegis of my Department which have raised conce…

I do not disagree with the Deputy. The committee I have established to examine the governance of the Arts Council is being led by Professor Niamh Brennan. It includes Margaret Cullen and John McCarthy. They have all in their own right plenty of experience of examining corporate governance in other areas as well. I do not disagree with the Deputy with regard to the Department's role but I have to f…

To take the last point first, it is not my intention that anybody who is legitimately doing very good work on behalf of the arts community across the country should suffer. That is not my concern here at all. My concern is the same as the Deputy's concern, that is, that if there is voted expenditure from the Oireachtas to Government Departments, it must be for the purpose that it is for. I will al…

The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for artists pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. The basic income for the arts pilot research scheme will conclude in August this year and the data from the pilot will be fed into the Government's consideration of the next steps. Recipients have been receiving payments and responding to surveys under the scheme since Augus…

As the Deputy will appreciate, I have been rather busy since I went into the Department. The total cost of this scheme is €105 million. It was committed by the previous Government of which the Deputy was a member. Undoubtedly, this scheme has certainly had major benefits for the individual artists concerned. Now, we have an opportunity to do not only qualitative but also quantitative research rega…

I do not disagree with the Deputy, except on his last point. There is no point in having research carried out and then making the decision ahead of it. I have to bring this matter to the Government and, as a former Minister for children, the Deputy will know what this involves. I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of the research, which is looking at the scheme under a variety of headings, inclu…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Mar is eol dó, tá cúraimí na Gaeltachta agus na Gaeilge ag aistriú chuig an Aire, an Teachta Calleary, go luath. Is é an tAire, an Teachta Calleary, a bheidh freagrach as polasaí a fhorbairt faoi na ceisteanna seo. Tá mé ag súil go mbeidh an obair go léir críochnaithe go luath chun na feidhmeanna a aistriú go foirmiúil ó mo Roinn chuig an Roinn nua, is í sin, an R…

Tá a fhios ag an Teachta an méid oibre a rinne mé nuair a bhí mé mar Aire Stáit ag plé leis an ábhar sin. Tá sé an-deacair. Níl aon amhras orainn faoin bpointe sin. Tá sé an-tábhachtach freisin d’Fhoras na Gaeilge go réiteofar an fhadhb seo chomh luath agus is féidir. B’fhéidir go mbeadh seans ag an Teachta buaileadh leis an Aire nua, an Teachta Calleary, agus an t-ábhar sin a phlé. B’fhéidir go m…

Cinnte. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta go bhfuil an fhoireann Gaeltachta agus Gaelainne imithe ó mo Roinn agus mar sin is é an tAire, an Teachta Calleary, atá ag plé agus a bheidh freagrach as na polasaithe a bhaineann le cúrsaí Gaeltachta agus Gaelainne. Ach tuigim go bhfuil mé os comhair an Dála inniu agus beidh mé in ann an t-ábhar sin a phlé leis an Aire chomh luath agus is féidir. Níl aon amhras or…

The Arts Council business transformation project has cost almost €7 million and resulted in a significant loss to the Exchequer. This loss has highlighted governance issues in the Arts Council and significant lapses in oversight by the Department, which was informed from early 2021 of challenges in progressing the business transformation project and which received periodic updates at further stage…