Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. She and I have exchanged ideas in the Seanad in the last while. I will repeat some but not all of them.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Joe McHugh, chomh maith. Is iontach an comhartha é de athnuachan a chuid Gaeilge go bhfuil sé in ann é seo a dhéanamh agus molaim go mór é as ucht an dul chuige atá aige ó thaobh sin.

I have five simple questions and will keep my contribution short. I support absolutely Deputy Catherine Murphy in her concern about the national cultural institutions. For the record and the purposes of dealing with conflict of interest issues, I am the director of a national cultural institution - the Abbey Theatre. Notwithstanding this, the sword of Damocles has been hanging over the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland and it is of deep concern to all of us that support is given to them. On that basis and without adding additional questions to Deputy Catherine Murphy's, I note my question on the centenary.

I note that the 1916 Rising was the culmination of a cultural revolution that had started at the end of the 19th century. Any sidelining of contemporary art and artists would hollow out the impact of the commemoration in 2016. I would like to hear what role the Minister considers artists will have in the commemoration and what role the Arts Council will have. The €4 million about which we are talking is clearly not enough. It should really have gone to the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland to physically stay open. How can we plan and what is the central role of artists? As I noted in the Seanad, there is great relief the Minister has announced the centenaries as it appeared there was paralysis. We can now get involved in disagreements. Disagreement is good. Disagreeing about the memories of 1916 is good and how artists interpret history and the future is important. The centrality of contemporary artists is important, but I have not heard enough from the Minister on this issue. Is she consulting the Arts Council on it?

My second question is based on the second recommendation in the committee's report which was published in June this year. It was also a significant recommendation at the Global Irish Economic Forum at Dublin Castle in October 2013. I refer to research and data. I do not expect the Minister to have an answer, but I would like her or her officials to come back to us on the role of data and research and how we can collate them. All I ask for is a promise to come back to the committee with a response. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in the North has a full-time economist working on data, the funding of the arts, the impact of the arts and how research can support not only new language but also new arguments that move away from those on economics, jobs, tourism and bed nights to permit growing self-confidence around supporting and increasing the arts. I want the Minister's commitment that she will come back within a reasonable time with a response from her officials on recommendation No. 2 in the report.

My third question relates to the Minister's commitment to look at the National Concert Hall Bill. The committee is reporting back to her on that issue. Does she have any other legislation planned for introduction during her term of office that relates to national cultural institutions?

I turn to my fourth question. I commend and wholeheartedly support Culture 2025. Is there anything the committee can do to help? I note that the Minister will be issuing a paper in the new year for public consultation and urge her to ensure artists will be central to it, not administrators, politicians or even me. Artists should be included in the middle to drive it and support the Minister in articulating a future vision for 2025. I would like a commitment from her in that regard.

My final question relates to my support for the tax exemption for artists. The issue is that the majority of artists earn less than the average industrial wage. A cap of €50,000 in one year would actually help the millionaires but not young artists who might receive an advance for a novel or a major public art commission in one year. That a young artist might receive €50,000 may seem like a lot, but when one spreads it over three years, it becomes ridiculous. I am concerned that the Department of Finance is looking at reviewing the tax relief in 2015 with "abolition on the table". What has the Minister done in the background? How can we help her to retain the exemption in 2015? While it absolutely needs reform, as Deputy Ruth Coppinger said, we support artists who are on the bread line and the poverty line. We should positively discriminate in favour of artists and it may be that even a figure of €100,000 is not so considerable when aggregated over three to four years. This is not about tax avoidance but about encouraging artists to keep at their work and retain their dignity and integrity. The cap should be based on an aggregate figure as opposed to a single year. I know artists who received €50,000 for a particular project but who had no other earnings in the next couple of years. Of course, they are going to pay tax on it.

Those are my five questions.