Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach, leis na Seanadóirí agus leis an Seanad as ucht an deis cúpla focal a rá maidir le cúrsaí spóirt in Éirinn faoi láthair. The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, and I are glad to be in the Seanad for statements on sport, a sector we believe is a vital part of our society, both locally and nationally. The Minister of State will be here in a while The Government is committed to supporting our sporting ecosystem so more people can participate, reap the benefits of sport and f…

I thank the Deputy. In support of action 19 in the report of the night-time economy task force and as part of the Department's key role in driving the night-time economy in Ireland, we are funding nine night-time economy advisers in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Kilkenny, Sligo, Longford, Buncrana and Drogheda. The night-time economy pilots are a significant project within the night-time economy policy area and arguably one of the most impactful. This year, I have allocated just under €1.4 million in funding to s…

I thank the Deputy. The Oireachtas broadcasting unit, as the Deputy knows, is a matter for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. All parties are represented at that commission. Those are ultimately the people who have responsibility for the operation and running of the Oireachtas. It would not be appropriate for me to cut across the Ceann Comhairle and members of the Oireachtas commission. In response to the comments the Deputy made about the night-time economy, much progress has been made in this space. During …

I acknowledge the Deputy's support for the sector. He has been consistent in his remarks.

I thank the Deputy. I launched the grassroots music venues support scheme in March this year to support small and established music venues that promote themselves and are known in the community for programming grassroots music artists, in recognition of the contribution they make to the music industry and the wider night-time economy. The support scheme aims to provide employment opportunities for emerging artists and professionals, including production staff and crew, who are dependent on live performances. The sc…

The Deputy will appreciate it was a pilot scheme that had a relatively small amount of money available and attracted considerable interest. The officials in my Department had to ascribe a basis for the allocation of the moneys, as I have outlined. They also had to cut it off at a certain point because there was no point in continuing secula seculorum . We will be doing this again and will have regard to those who were unsuccessful this time around. I hope to build the scheme into the budget for 2026 at a much highe…

Regarding the previous question Deputy O'Donoghue raised, it will be appreciated by Deputy Ó Snodaigh that a small town like Buncrana has a night-time economy adviser that the Department made provision for. Many towns in Ireland that are much bigger than Buncrana do not have one. This is the basis of pilots. There will always be disappointment but once the pilots are concluded, that will give us an opportunity to take lessons from the scheme. I compared this to the sports capital grant. I know what the Deputy said …

Ah Jesus.

Oh my God.

The question is whether I will abolish the television licence and replace it with a tax. No, I will not. That is the end of that. I have no notion of doing it. That fund is in place to support RTÉ and public service broadcasters. It also supports Sound and Vision. I have no intention of replacing it. I also have no intention of going down a cul-de-sac as the Deputy would like us to do, which would be a road to nowhere for RTÉ and everyone associated with broadcasting. The short answer is "No".

I am here to answer questions regarding communications, so I will answer the question on communications. There was not really a question in the Deputy's second contribution. My position remains the same. The television licence is not a tax, by the way. I do not see that reference anywhere in the legislation, so I do not know what hat he drew that rabbit out of. It is an important funding mechanism for RTÉ. The Deputy would be the very first person out in RTÉ protesting if the Government were to in any way reduce fu…

The Deputy is no stranger to RTÉ and he gets a fair crack of the whip there. Of course, he never uses the opportunity to express his thanks for the unbridled coverage he seems to get from RTÉ on a day in, day out basis. Those of us on this side of the House might have something to complain about if there was a fairness test. I do not, however, because it is a public service broadcaster and I am not going to interfere in editorial coverage.

The Deputy has form in this space. He does not want to pay for anything. He feels that everybody else should pay for something else other than him. He is entitled to start whatever campaign it is he wants to start to undermine another public service. I do not wish him the best of luck with it. Most people do not either. When he does get an opportunity to sit on this side of the House, with whoever it is that will actually have him as a partner in government, he will then see there is more to running a public servic…

I thank the Deputy for the question and for his remarks at the start of his contribution. The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for the arts pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. I appreciate the importance of the basic income support for artists, which is why last week I announced that the Cabinet had agreed to my proposal to an extension of six months to allow further evaluation of the pilot data. This will also give sufficient time to engage in stakeholder consultation and to…

I agree with the Deputy, to be honest about it. It has shone a light on the precarious nature of the income, which was the initial overriding consideration my predecessor had when this scheme was brought in. Not everybody was enthusiastic about this scheme when it was brought in but, qualitatively and quantitatively, when we have the research concluded, it will demonstrate in a clear way that this is a good scheme. Ultimately, I would love to be able to broaden it, but it will be resource dependent in the context o…

I will take the last part first. Once I have had an opportunity to digest the material - the Deputy would accept that is not unreasonable - it will give me an opportunity to make further decisions. As regards the result of the analysis and the possible publication, we want to be sensitive to people's individual identities, etc. I do not want to compromise people one way or another. I also am conscious, as I stated, that there are a number of people who did not get to participate on the scheme. It is important to po…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 134, 138 and 141 together. As the Deputies will be aware, the programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for the arts pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. The scheme has now been operating for almost three years and is underpinned by a robust research programme collecting data about all aspects of the lives of the artists and creative arts workers who are participating in the scheme. There is clearly broad support for the scheme, as is evident from the n…

I thank both Deputies for their support. To reply to Deputy Tóibín, this is not a difficult decision that has been kicked down the road. The scheme was due to end in August and the easy thing to do would have been to wind it up but I did not do that. I have extended it past the budgetary date at the end of the year and into the new year. This will give me an opportunity to use empirical quantitative and qualitative data to demonstrate to the public and to colleagues in the Government that this is a scheme worth ret…

I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil. At a recent meeting of culture ministers in Brussels, a number of colleagues from other member states spoke to me about this and they could not believe, to be quite honest about it, that we had introduced a scheme of this nature. They were envious, to put it mildly, that we have a scheme of this nature and that we have the resources and capacity, based on the economy and the way we have managed the country's financial resources, to introduce this, albeit on a pilot basis. Deputy Ó Cearúíl …

I thank Deputy Aird. As outlined in the programme for Government, the Government believes that culture and the arts are essential to a well-rounded society. Ireland is well-known for our rich, diverse and vibrant arts sector. There have been significant increases in support for arts and culture across the country, including in County Laois, in recent years. Within my Department, a number of measures are in place to support the arts at amateur and professional levels, including annual funding provided to Comhaltas C…