The Deputy cast aspersions on an individual.

How dare the Deputy cast aspersions on me. On what basis is the Deputy casting aspersions on me?

On what basis is the Deputy casting aspersions on me?

The Deputy should take it up with his colleague, Deputy Pa Daly. Do not come in here like a hypocrite.

The Deputy wants to have his cake and to eat it. He has a problem with Listowel Writers' Week.

The Deputy has a problem with the people of Listowel but he has no problem with Gweedore.

The Deputy is a hypocrite.

The Deputy is a hypocrite.

The people of Listowel and Deputy Daly will know all about.

They will get more next year.

There is an open invite to everybody.

Because I am in favour of the people of Listowel. I will take Deputy McGuinness on as well.

Exactly. The decent people of Listowel.

I propose to takes Questions Nos. 6, 20, 23, 26 and 32 together. The basic income for the arts is a pilot research programme which will inform future Government policy on how best to support Ireland’s artists and creative arts workers. The primary objective of the scheme was to help artists deal with precarious incomes and prevent talent from leaving the sector for economic reasons. It is well established that artists suffer from precarious incomes and the benefits of the arts enjoyed by society are often as a resu…

I will finish reading the reply for the record. Last week I published a cost benefit analysis showing the net fiscal cost of the BIA was just under €72 million over the three years compared to gross cost of €105 million over three years. For every €1 of public money invested in the pilot, society received €1.39 in return. The cost-benefit analysis shows that audience engagement with the arts generated an estimated €16.9 million in social value over the three pilot years and improvements in psychological well-being …

I do not know if the Deputy was here for the Priority Questions, but as I said earlier, no decision has been made with regard to a successor. That decision and any decisions on the details of any successor scheme will only be made once there is acceptance of what I have put before the Dáil this morning, which is that the scheme should be continued. The quantum of money available will also be relevant. There is only a week to go to the budget and ultimately, the numbers of people that will be included will reflect t…

Sorry, what question are we on?

As outlined in my reply to an earlier question, the operation of the League of Ireland and its academies is fundamentally a matter for the Football Association of Ireland which, like all national governing bodies of sport, is an independent, autonomous body responsible for the organisation and development of its own sport. At present, no specific funding is allocated for League of Ireland academies. However, the programme for Government commits to exploring new mechanisms for the creation of football academies. An …

As I said to Deputy Byrne a while ago, and as Deputy Ó Murchú has acknowledged, the Government has played a role in terms of the supports it has provided to the FAI. We are operating on the basis of a memorandum of understanding, MOU. A significant amount of reform has happened already. Of the 163 recommendations or conditions, 159, or 98%, are either completed or phase 1 of them is completed. The financial situation in the FAI is still challenging. Since the new MOU was signed on 17 December 2024, State funding ha…

I have not had any engagement with LMETB. The Department or the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, who unfortunately cannot be here today, may well have had some engagement with it. I am not sure about that but I can check afterwards. I do not disagree with what the Deputy said with regard to investment. Every single person who comes in for these questions on sport has a catalogue of things he or she wants implemented. It is not a couple of hundred million euro I would need, but rather a couple of hundred billi…