asked the Taoiseach (a) the funds which so far have been allocated to arts and culture in 1987 by or through his Department; and (b) the proposals, if any, he has for further funding for arts and culture in 1987.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Arts and Culture Funding.
8.
So far in 1987 £11,841,546 has been allocated to arts and culture related projects by and through my Department.
Further funds, from the proceeds of the national lottery, will be allocated shortly.
How much of that £11,841,546, most of it provided at the instigation of myself and my colleagues when in Government, has been provided from the proceeds of the national lottery.
I may not be able to give the Deputy an exact figure but it is about £1.317546 million.
I will not hold the Taoiseach to the last three decimal places there. Would the Taoiseach not agree that to have allocated so far this year £1.3 million to the arts from the proceeds of the national lottery is in fact a perversion of the original intention of the lottery? Could the Taoiseach indicate what further sums will be allocated this year from the lottery proceeds to arts and culture?
The Deputy will have to wait for that. A total of £7 million, all told, of the national lottery proceeds has been allocated. Approximately £1.3 million has been allocated to arts and culture and, if it is any consolation to the Deputy, I do not for one moment wish to take at all from the reasonably creditable performance of the Government of which he was a member in relation to arts and culture. I have already said that publicly.
The Taoiseach has just told me that I must wait for the information. I can assure the Taoiseach that I do not intend to hold my breath waiting, nor can the people involved in arts and culture hold their breath while waiting. Would the Taoiseach not agree that on 14 October it is rather a ridiculous situation to find that only one-fifth of the proceeds from the national lottery this year have been allocated? Would he take steps immediately to provide for the allocation of the remainder of the funds? Otherwise they will have no effect during the course of this year.
We hope to do that fairly soon but I would just point out to the Deputy that our approach was that we felt it desirable to have the debate on the Estimates and hear what the House had to say and if the House is particularly keen that certain areas which would come within the ambit of the national lottery deserve more consideration than others, then we can take that into account when allocating the final tranche of the national lottery.
I should like to make a special inquiry about this. Will the Taoiseach give some indication as to whether the Dublin Film Festival will be hearing from his Department in connection with an allocation for 1988 before the opening of their festival shortly and which is due to end on 3 November next?
I could not give any answer to that.
Is the Taoiseach aware of the great deal of unrest among the public about the way the proceeds of the national lottery are being handled? As far as I am concerned — many people hold the same view — this is the greatest con trick of all time.
I must point out to the Deputy that the question is specific in respect of the application of arts and culture and I will not allow a widening of the scope of it now.
Is the Taoiseach not aware that the last Government made a decision as to where the allocation in relation to arts, culture, sport and so on should go?
The arts and culture are the subject matter of the question and I will not allow a widening of the scope of it.
Some people who are contributing to the national lottery are questioning the way the proceeds are being distributed because the proceeds were to go to sport, arts and culture and the promotion of the Irish language. Those people now find that the Government are using the lottery as another means of collecting revenue for the State. The House is entitled to ask the Taoiseach why there is such a long delay and why there has been a change of policy on an issue which was non-political.
The Deputy is embarking upon a speech. I am calling the next question because the Deputy is quite out of order.
I should like to make a point in reply to the Deputy. When the Government of which the Deputy was a member left office the official position, and their approach, was that £7 million was what could be expected from the lottery. That was the amount they proposed to distribute. In fact, that £7 million has been distributed.
That is not correct. The percentages I am talking about are 55 per cent for sport and so on. That was clearly decided.
I must move on to the next question.