asked the Taoiseach if he will restore the State grant to the Irish Theatre Company.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Theatre Company.
5.
This is a matter for the Arts Council.
Will the Minister of State agree that the position in regard to our theatres is pretty catastrophic? In those circumstances will the Minister take any action open to him to have a grant in some shape or form restored to the Irish Theatre Company?
I believe everybody accepts that there are grave difficulties for the theatre as far as attendances and employment in the theatre are concerned. However, as the Deputy is aware, the Arts Council decided to withdraw funding from the Irish Theatre Company and to fund touring theatre on the basis of grants to individual companies. An Irish touring agency company was set up, funded by the Arts Council, to co-ordinate those activities. The Leader of the Opposition mentioned the employment element and I should like to tell him that the new regulation for touring produced more actor-weeks than the Irish Theatre Company. In 1981 under the Irish Theatre Company there were 405 actor-weeks while in 1982, under the Arts Council's touring system, there were 633. In 1983 the figure was 530 actor-weeks. As far as employment is concerned there has been a substantial improvement and there has also been an improvement as regards bringing professional theatre to the provinces. In 1981, the last full year for the ITC, there were 35 actor-weeks involved and this rose to 51 weeks in 1982 and 48 weeks in 1983. There has been improvement on both counts. I should like to tell the Deputy that it would be inappropriate for the Department of the Taoiseach to become directly involved in funding the arts which is the statutory function of the Arts Council.
Will the Minister of State accept the general view of all connected with the theatre, despite the collective statistics he has given, that the Irish theatre is in a parlous state at the moment? In view of the great publicity and propaganda made of the Minister's appointment as having responsibility for the arts and culture, there is an obligation on him to do something about this matter. Will the Minister accept that his appointment, and the title he has been given, is regarded in artistic and theatrical circles as a joke in very bad taste?
We cannot have argument.
Now that the Minister for Finance has put his sister on the Arts Council maybe the funding of that body will be improved.
Sister-in-law. Deputy Brennan made a few of the cheapest remarks ever made in the House about that.