This question relates to the programme for Government commitments relating to creative and cultural infrastructure that promised an increase in support in the provision of affordable workspaces, to examine agent of change initiatives, to examine meanwhile use legislation and ensure timely delivery of capital investment, including for our national cultural institutions. Have any of those been achieved?

The programme for Government contains a number of commitments relating to creative and cultural infrastructure. First, with regard to national development plan investment in our national cultural institutions, the Department is working closely with the OPW and the national cultural institutions to progress delivery of major capital redevelopment projects through the infrastructure guidelines. Just last week, I announced the commencement of the construction of the National Archives project, while the Crawford Art Gallery redevelopment went out to tender on Friday. I officially opened the new lecture theatre at the National Library of Ireland on 9 May.

The National Concert Hall development has completed the preliminary business case stage and planning permission has been received for the first stage of the development. A planning application for the remainder of the project will be lodged in the coming months. The design team has been appointed for the Natural History Museum project and the Abbey Theatre project is currently being reviewed as part of the external assurance process set out under the infrastructure guidelines. Projects at the Chester Beatty, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum in Kildare Street are all in various stages of development of their preliminary business cases.

With regard to affordable workspaces for artists and creative practitioners, I will provide capital funding towards the provision of artist workspaces under a scheme, which I will be launching shortly. Local authorities will be invited to propose capital projects for artist workspaces that are fit for purpose, design focused, accessible and affordable. Funding will be made available for projects that focus on the delivery of infrastructure to increase availability and access to artist workspaces throughout the country. As an initial step in advance of that wider launch, the Department and Dublin City Council are developing a €9 million capital works programme that will see 60 artists provided with turnkey workspaces and opportunities to use performance and gallery space and flexible office workspaces.

The agent of change initiative and the issue of meanwhile use and matters relating to planning are primarily the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. In relation to the work of my Department, however, they are being considered within the context of the report of the night-time economy task force and are being progressed by the implementation group responsible for overseeing the actions within that report.

I welcome the progress being made, especially on the new schemes delivered or being delivered by Dublin City Council's space to create scheme, as well as the Arts Council's visual artists workspace scheme. Artists across the country, however, continue to struggle to secure a space in which to rehearse, work, create, perform or exhibit. Rising rents and overdependence on private operators are often locking struggling artists out of spaces in which to create their work, perform or display their works.

The agent of change initiative would take existing cultural spaces into account when new building works are taking place. This is a time a huge number of new developments seem to be happening and squeezing out art spaces. In response to a parliamentary question I asked in June 2022, the Minister said the Department was leading on this matter, but four years later she seems to be saying the opposite.

The agent of change principle could really impact not only on developing and sustaining our night-time economy but also on the broader plans for more sustainable urban communities. There is much discussion on how night-time venues can co-exist with residential development in our cities and urban areas. Finding ways to address these challenges is essential to establishing and maintaining viable communities in our town and city centres while maintaining a vibrant night-time economy. While encouraging residential development in urban centres is clearly key to people living closer to amenities and services, it cannot be at the expense of long-established night-time venues. This issue of the agent of change principle arose during discussions on the night-time economy task force. My Department is establishing a small working group to look at best practice in this space and to examine the various challenges that might arise. This work will begin shortly but it will also involve other key stakeholders such as local authorities and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

It is worth noting that all of this work feeds into the discussion around noise management in the night-time economy. My Department is rolling out funding for businesses in the night-time economy for soundproofing and noise mitigation measures to promote a more sustainable night-time economy.

There is no legislation in relation to the night-time economy. There is nothing even at draft stage yet that would also deal with the meanwhile-use legislation. I am not sure whether it will be part of the night-time economy legislation or if it will be a stand-alone Bill. Meanwhile use would help to protect the temporary use of empty buildings or land for pop-up shops, exhibition spaces and cultural or co-operative working spaces until they can be used on a permanent basis. The other danger in terms of the agents of change legislation is to ensure that existing spaces continue to be used. If there is a certain amount of square footage in a development, we must ensure that new developments do not become too costly for use by the artists who previously used the space and that they would be squeezed out by cost rather than by a change of use of the building. There is much work to be done by the Department, in particular because the other Departments have different priorities.

The meanwhile use of the buildings has also arisen during the discussions of the implementation group on the night-time economy task force. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is leading on this policy area and will be keeping the implementation group informed on progress. That Department will be key to delivery on these two areas, including the agents of change. It is leading on this important action in the task force report and it is making progress in this regard. As part of the work, that Department will examine the practical implications for planning and other legislative codes to enable the potential for vacant buildings to be used for meanwhile use. It is hoped that this will lead to more opportunities for the late-night sector and breathe life into these vacant spaces. This work is under way.

I also acknowledge those local authorities and developers who, on occasion, make properties available for meanwhile use as artists' workspaces. It is important also to support the delivery of a greater number of workspaces through the widest range of measures. This informed my announcement of support for Dublin City Council's ambitious plans last year. I will shortly make a further announcement of a new support for local authorities for artists' workspaces.