Arts Policy
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Aengus Ó Snodaigh (SF), Dublin South-Central

It is concerning that there is no strategy for the arts spaces infrastructure and that we do not have an arts capital fund such as the sports capital fund and at that scale to address what is happening around the country, not just in Dublin, where large and small arts venues are closing. Many of those arts centres are in buildings that are semi-derelict or in precarious rental agreements. When the money comes for development of apartments or the like they are the first to go. Given our reputation as a country that supports the arts, it is important to not just depend on local authorities but to go beyond that. The State has to step up to increase the funding available to venues such as The Complex, which hosted quite a lot of artists over the years. It was open for 18 years and had music, art and theatre under the one roof. It was an eclectic place to be in and I encourage the Minister to look again not just at The Complex but at the strategy around arts infrastructure.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20