I welcome that there is already a set timetable in terms of the recommendations for the Arts Council and the Minister's Department but the report itself goes beyond the Department and some of it is cross-cutting. The report was commissioned by the Minister and I take the opportunity to thank Professor Brennan and her team for publishing it. It identifies a lot of issues, some of which have already been addressed in the Arts Council and some of which have already been addressed, as far as I know, in the Department. …

One of the key points that jumped out at me, given the context of other failed IT programmes, is that the report emphasised that a multiplicity of public service bodies of a similar scale to the Arts Council should be better supported from within the public sector when it comes to undertaking projects akin to the Arts Council project. There is a challenge there for the Government as a whole. The Minister is not responsible for this but I urge him to use the opportunity at Cabinet, when the report comes up, to remin…

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 …

I will not get into the finances of Dublin City Council and the problem that most of the funding that is meant to go to Dublin City Council sometimes does not end in Dublin City Council especially when you take into consideration the property tax that disappears out of Dublin. Having said that, I was not necessarily asking at this stage that the Department purchase The Complex. However, there is a need that a greater fund be available, not just for Dublin City Council, but also for Galway council. There are other a…

It has not reduced it this year.

It is going from the Government.

I was never a Dublin city councillor.

Tá an chéad dá leasú as ord.

Amendments Nos. 3 and 15 are related and will be discussed together.

Tá leasaithe Uimh. 4 and 11 gaolta agus beidh siad á phlé le chéile.

Tá leasaithe Uimh. 5 and 12 gaolta agus beidh siad á phlé le chéile.

Leasaithe Uimh. 6 and 13 gaolta le chéile agus beidh siad á phlé le chéile.

Bogfaidh muid ar aghaidh anois go dtí leasú Uimh. 7. Tá leasuithe Uimh. 7 agus 14 gaolta le chéile. Tagann siad as plé sa choiste agus pléifear iad le chéile.

Bogfaidh muid ar aghaidh go dtí leasú Uimh. 8. Tá leasuithe Uimh. 8 agus 16 gaolta le chéile agus pléifear iad le chéile. Tagann siad as plé a bhí againn sa choiste.

Tá leasú Uimh. 9 geallta le leasú Uimh. 17. Pléifear iad le chéile. Tagann siad as plé a bhí againn sa choiste.

Amendment No. 10 has been ruled out of order because it is in conflict with the principle of the Bill.

Tá sé go maith go bhfuil an deis againn labhairt faoin Bhille ar an gCéim seo. Ar an Dara Céim, bíonn sé tábhachtach cloisteáil go díreach cad atá an tAire ag iarraidh a dhéanamh leis an reachtaíocht. Cheana féin, tá sé tar éis a rá go mbeidh leasuithe ag teacht chun cinn. Tá sé go maith go bhfuil sé sin mar chuid den phróiseas, ach tá sé ait go bhfuil sé ag fógairt leasuithe agus muid díreach ar an gCéim seo. Tá sé go maith go bhfuil sé fós ag plé leis an gcoincheap i gcoitinne agus leis na fadhbanna atá aitheanta…

I will speak to section 2. The point needs to be made, as I have done virtually every year, that there is no secret service and yet every year there is an Estimate set down for €2 million to be issued to a secret service that supposedly does not exist but I will come back to that. The sum of €2 million is not huge. The fact is that all of the other Estimates go before a committee. This Estimate now falls under the Minister for public expenditure. It used to be the Minister for Finance. Yet, none of the Ministers ha…

I would welcome the debate because it is the only Vote that is specific and set apart. It does not fall under the Garda Síochána Vote, the Defence Forces Vote, as you would presume, or even the Minister for justice's Vote. It falls specifically under finance or, of late, public expenditure, which begs the question as to who stands over this expenditure. It has not increased in recent years. It is €2 million. As I said, in the bigger scheme of things, it is not a huge amount of money. If the Minister came in here ne…

Usually, committees do not deal with Votes unless they are specifically in the remit-----