Vol. 561 No. 4
295 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the amount of money spent by his Department on the interim governing authority of the Irish Academy for the Performing Arts from its inception to 30 January 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4640/03]
296 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the reports which were issued by the interim governing authority of the Irish Academy for the Performing Arts from its inception to 30 January 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4641/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 295 and 296 together.
As the Deputy may be aware, in December 1999, the Government approved the establishment of an academy for the performing arts which was to incorporate a headquarters at Dublin City University, a Limerick campus incorporating the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick and an undergraduate professional dance facility based at the Institute for Choreography and Dance at Firkin Crane, Cork. An interim governing authority was established to oversee the development of the academy in April 2002.
In light of a lack of available capital funding in 2003 to progress the capital elements of the project, the Government has reconsidered its approach to the development of an Irish academy for the performing arts. The Government has now decided to transfer responsibility for the project to the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism and has agreed that other options for the development of an Irish academy for the performing arts in tandem with projects of a similar nature will now be considered. In the circumstances, the members of the interim governing authority have been requested to stand down. The authority met on four occasions in April, July, October and December 2002. Some €68,475 was spent on the project from the establishment of the authority to date. No formal published reports were issued by the authority during its lifetime. The activities undertaken included: an ongoing process of fact finding and research towards the development of the academy's future direction which saw: presentations from representatives of the three proposed nodes (music, drama and dance) of the academy and on-site visits to each nodal centre were also being planned; a presentation by Dr. Danny O'Hare who chaired the planning and steering group for the academy; and a presentation from the rector of the Sibelius Academy in Finland as an example of best practice abroad. Other similar presentations were planned for future meetings, for example from the heads of the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts and the Juilliard School in the US.
