Patrick O'Donovan

What the Deputy has seen from me so far is that once I become aware of the issue with the Art Council and the issues in the National Gallery, I dealt with them, and I did so fairly comprehensively. The report on the Arts Council was published today. It runs to 245 pages and contains well in excess of 190 recommendations. There are recommendations for all Departments, including my Department, State…

I hope the Deputy had a chance to look at the report. It took me from 5 January until today to get in under the bonnet of it. Not all 149 recommendations are necessarily attributable to the Arts Council alone. There is an awful lot in the report from which other agencies can learn as well. Similar issues have arisen in other bodies, as I know from my time on the public accounts committee. One of t…

In February 2025, I ordered an external review of the governance and organisational culture in the Arts Council, following the disclosure of a loss on a failed €6.675 million IT project in the Arts Council's annual report for 2023. With the agreement of the Government, I established an expert advisory committee comprising Professor Niamh Brennan, Dr. Margaret Cullen and John McCarthy to deliver th…

Deputy Ó Snodaigh has raised a very important issue. The formulation, compilation and completion of the report was done independently but prior to the conclusion of the report the chapters relating to each individual entity were circulated to those entities for their observations. I did not receive the final report until 5 January and I published it today. I have accepted Professor Brennan's recom…

I think Deputy Ó Snodaigh would agree with me that the Arts Council has gone through a fairly tumultuous period of change in the recent past, and I acknowledge the role that Dr. Moling Ryan has played as an interim director. I have no plans in the immediate future to do any further chopping and changing. I want to leave things bed down and get a genuine schedule and timetable for the change manage…

I want to put on the record my disgust at the type of material that is being created and shared on social media. It is abhorrent. My first concern is with those affected, in particular women, young children and young people in general. The sharing of non-consensual intimate images is illegal under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, also known as Coco's Law; and …

I will take the last question first. I do not know if the number has increased. That is because it is a Garda matter. It is not for the Government to interfere in the operations of the Garda Síochána, nor is it the role of the Minister to interfere where there is an independent regulator. In this case, there are two independent regulators, namely Coimisiún na Meán and the European Commission. Due …

I do think it is a mistake. To be quite honest, X should send representatives. The company is operating in the jurisdiction. The last time I was asked about people attending the committee in question was when the FAI said that it was not going to send representatives. I was asked on the radio whether I thought its representatives should appear and I said that they should. I also stated that a lett…

Mobile network operators are continuously enhancing and improving their networks across rural and urban areas. However, I am aware that the quality of network coverage is not uniform across the country. While the availability of mobile phone coverage is primarily a matter for mobile network operators, operating on a commercial basis in a liberalised market, they are regulated by the Commission for…

I will refer the Deputy's queries directly to ComReg and get a more comprehensive reply with regard to the specific geographical area. I do not know whether operators have, for instance, sought planning permission for masts or other infrastructure in the area or whether, if they have, these have been looked upon favourably by Galway County Council. Anecdotally, all of us in this House know of situ…

In a lot of cases, existing public infrastructure is used for the installation of mobile telephony infrastructure and other infrastructure, for example, by the Office of Public Works for Garda stations and by local authorities when it comes to water towers, reservoirs and other such sites. In its own way, the national broadband plan will improve the quality of internal calls because people will be…

In December 2022, Ireland's digital connectivity strategy was published, which supports the ambition outlined in the national digital strategy and sets out a number of targets including that all households and businesses will be covered by a gigabit network not later than 2028. The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future, published in January 2025, sets a number of targets which inclu…

I can confirm that the work is ahead of time. As well as being ahead of schedule, the work is also ahead of budget. When Deputy Moynihan and I first came into the Dáil there was a time when broadband was the be all and end all and came up every second day. You could not stick your head outside the door but someone would take it off over broadband. Thankfully, we made an awful lot of progress. As …

That is no bother. The most important assurances that I can give him is that the work is running 12 months ahead of schedule at the moment nationally, which is a massive achievement for the Government. When this was being done first, certain people in this House and certain commentators in the media said it was an awful waste of money. I do not know where those people are today, but I do not hear …

I thank the Deputy for raising this. The provision of local arts centres is a matter in the first instance for the relevant local authority. County and city development plans are drawn up by local authorities, including the policy objectives for development of the arts. Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to the arts and culture centres by local authorities and …

We have been looking at a strategy with regard to arts infrastructure. We may be bring forward an arts capital scheme similar to the sports capital scheme we administer. To reiterate, we have offered Dublin City Council properties to look at that have wound up in the charge of the Department through the Digital Hub in the Liberties. I would say you could puck a ball from the Digital Hub to where T…

I will not get into the finances of Dublin City Council either. Suffice to say, and the Deputy knows this probably better than I do, that it is one of a few local authorities in the country that has consistently reduced their property tax over the number of years. If it can afford to do that, maybe it could afford to see. While there is money coming out of the council-----

-----going to places like Leitrim and Sligo, I am sure Deputy Martin Kenny would be very upset with Deputy Ó Snodaigh suggesting the money should not be going to Sligo and Leitrim from Dublin City Council.

I am not going to lecture a former member of Dublin City Council on the reduction of the rates in Dublin City Council-----

-----either commercial or housing. Suffice to say, I welcome the opportunity for Dublin City Council to engage with us on the property we do own. The Office of Public Works owns quite a considerable amount as well. It cannot just throw its hands up in the air and say this is all the Government's fault and problem. If we are coming forward with alternative accommodation the least it could do is eng…

I dtosach, ar son mo phairtí, Fine Gael agus ar son an Rialtais, déanaim comhbhrón le clann Paddy Cooney, a cailleadh i rith na seachtaine. He was a former Minister for Justice - I note a flag is at half-mast over the House today - a former TD for Longford-Westmeath and a former Senator. He was a great advocate in the Dáil for the people of Longford and Westmeath and did a huge amount of work to p…

Deputy Carthy does a good job of pretending he has a monopoly on people's concerns in this country. The one thing he never mentions is the economy or jobs or anything as to where the actual wealth in the country comes from. I think it is something his party is incapable of understanding. The income into this State-----

I did not interrupt the Deputy. The income into this State and its ability to spend money is derived from the strong economy and all the policies to which he and his party have objected.

I know it is a tactic they use.

Sometimes they do it quite well, but they are showing themselves up by trying to shout people down. If they will just listen, Deputy Carthy said a while ago that we have nothing with regard to cost-of-living measures.