I had thought we were nearly finished but I thank the Deputy. A range of supports are provided for screen productions in Ireland, including regional productions. These are kept under ongoing review to ensure we remain an attractive location for inward investment and continue to develop our domestic industry. In 2024, Screen Ireland invested more than €6.5 million in productions, festivals, initiatives and activities …
TDs / Patrick O'Donovan
Patrick O'Donovan
Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
73,474
words spoken in the chamber
73,468 as a minister, 6 as a TD
228
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 346 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 6 |
| March 2025 | 27 |
| April 2025 | 9 |
| May 2025 | 32 |
| June 2025 | 36 |
| July 2025 | 0 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 1 |
| October 2025 | 79 |
| November 2025 | 28 |
| December 2025 | 57 |
| January 2026 | 21 |
| February 2026 | 1 |
| March 2026 | 28 |
| April 2026 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 20 |
| June 2026 | 0 |
| July 2026 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 |
| October 2026 | 1 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 314 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Limerick County 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media 23 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport 2 June 2025 to now
I thank all of the Deputies for raising this really important question. I have done a number of trade missions to north America with Screen Ireland and the film sector. It is my intention to do another one to Canada and the United States of America early in the spring because there is substantial potential here. That potential is driven by talent, infrastructure, our climate and the existing section 481 tax relief. S…
As I have previously outlined to other Deputies, the programme for Government contains this commitment because we believe culture and arts are essential to a well-rounded society and provide opportunities for education, expression and community engagement. A network of cultural infrastructure exists throughout the country, the majority of which is in the ownership of local authorities.
Annual support, including prog…
That is exactly what we are doing. We are starting with a small amount because we want to test the water and get an understanding of how the scheme will work. When sports capital was introduced fadó, fadó, it started at a very small level. When I was Minister of State in the Department the last time, in 2016, the amount available for sports capital was paltry compared to what is available from our Department now - no…
I agree with both Deputies. Whether it is arts or sport, we will prioritise areas with growing and burgeoning populations but without facilities. I am going to be very critical of local authorities again. Local authorities have in many cases allowed houses to be built all over the place and done very well out of development levy contribution schemes. Where has the money gone? We have to be honest. In many cases, the …
Give it a few weeks and you will be back again.
We will have a debate on the Special Criminal Court while you are at it.
You are the closest thing to North Korea here.
Or maybe Cuba.
Ar dtús, déanaim comhbhrón le muintir Harvey. Ar an lámh eile, tacaím leis an Tánaiste agus le rún an Rialtais atá os comhair na Dála inniu.
As his friend for a long time - since we both sat in this House together when we were first elected in 2011 - I will speak about the confidence I have in Simon Harris. Since he became a TD for Wicklow, and before that as a councillor and campaigner for autism services, Simon ha…
Tá áthas orm labhairt leis an gCeann Comhairle agus leis na Teachtaí maidir leis an leithdháileadh de €1.51 billiún atá tugtha do mo Roinn i mbuiséad 2026 agus cur síos a dhéanamh ar roinnt de na bearta a chothóidh, a fheabhsóidh agus a fhorbróidh na hearnálacha atá faoi mo chúram.
This is the first budget for my Department in its new configuration with responsibility for arts, culture, media, telecommunications and…
The operation of the League of Ireland and its academies is fundamentally a matter for the Football Association of Ireland, which, like all other NGBs of sport is an independent, autonomous organisation responsible for the organisation and development of its own sport.
The programme for Government commits to exploring new mechanisms for the creation of football academies and an additional finding grant of €1 million…
The FAI already receives significant amounts of Government funding, which the Deputy did not reference, nor did she reference anything the Government has been doing for the FAI over the past number of years. The 2023 memorandum of understanding between the Government and the FAI provides €5.8 million per annum to the association via Sport Ireland. In addition, the Government pays the FAI's annual contribution to the …
I remind the Deputy that we actually have fulfilled our programme for Government commitment. We paid for the report and the Deputy did not acknowledge that either. Now we are considering it, and we will consider it in the round with every other field sport that is looking for money, including rugby, Gaelic games and everything else. We have a limited amount. If there are suggestions she has with regard to existing pa…
The Government is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network as a key component of the economic and social infrastructure throughout Ireland. The programme for Government commits to providing the nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities. The Department is working to deliver on this commitment, engaging with rel…
We have engaged with the postmasters. I represent a rural community. I know probably as well as the Deputy the value of post offices. The earlier reply alluded to the fact that there is a digital risk with the growth in the number of services that are moving online. The reality is that mail delivery services have gone down dramatically. That poses a risk to the company and we have to be acutely aware of it. While eve…
Any decision on offices and outlets is a matter for the company and has been since the foundation of the company, and they are commercial decisions. That being said, when I meet with An Post, and any time I have met An Post, its representatives are very keen to point out that what it has been doing in the recent past, by virtue of the fact that it has gotten significant financial support, is looking to see if there a…
Yes, but the questions are grouped. I will give way to Deputy Gibney.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 5 together.
I thank both Deputies. The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for the arts, BIA, pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. I announced an extension of six months, to February 2026, to allow for further assessment of the pilot data and to engage in stakeholder consultation to provide an evidence base for Government to make decisions on…
I will stick with artists for the moment, if that is okay. On the budgetary discussions, I have made it abundantly clear, even in the last line I read out, that I am in favour of the retention of the scheme. However, as Deputy Ó Snodaigh, who has been around a lot longer in this place than I have, knows, I still have to secure a funding source to make sure we have a scheme that can be implemented in the immediate aft…
I will go back to Deputy Ó Snodaigh's point with regard to disability. In the discussions I have already had in the Department with the representative groups, I have made clear my intention that if there is a successor scheme, there will be a clear focus on artists who have a disability in order to make sure they have access to the scheme. They should also be assisted in making an application to the scheme because fo…
With regard to farmers, carers and everything else, that will be a matter for the line Ministers in each of the individual Departments. At the moment, my focus is on the questions that are before the House.
The short answer is "No", but I will give the Deputy a longer answer now.
I understand the Deputy is referring to the approval on 30 May of an allocation of support not to exceed €25,000 in respect of the Listowel Writers Festival. My Department has a number of processes for allocating funding to a wide range of artistic and cultural organisations and events. These processes are designed to ensure fairness and, insofar as possible, maximise responsiveness to the needs of the sector. In res…
The Deputy might say it is "outside of the normal channels" but I wonder if he ran this question by his colleague, Deputy Pa Daly, who represents the constituency of Kerry, before he came into the Chamber. Deputy Daly has used a similar channel for festival in Tralee called Anam. It was approved under that channel and received €7,500. There was no difficulty with that. I do not know what Deputy Ó Snodaigh has against…