Vol. 421 No. 5
3 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he proposes to bring out a White Paper on the arts in Ireland and the redefined role of the State, at central and local level as a sponsor and patron of the arts, in view of the scale and volume of national lottery funding for the arts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I have no plans to publish a White Paper on the lines suggested by the Deputy. The Government's priorities in relation to the development of the arts were outlined by the Taoiseach on 18 February last in reply to a parliamentary question tabled by Deputy Spring.
On a number of occasions I have met representatives of the Arts Council, the State agency who have a statutory role to advise the Government regarding artistic and cultural matters. A number of meetings have also been held over the past four months between representatives of the main national cultural institutions and myself or the Taoiseach. I am satisfied from those meetings that I am fully aware of the needs and aspirations of the various cultural agencies who function under the aegis of my Department.
Will the Minister consider it is now appropriate that a White Paper or, indeed, a major policy statement should be made in relation to the development of the arts, because there has been severe criticism in recent years of the fact that we do not have an updated policy in this regard? Will the Minister also take into account the increased volume of money available from the national lottery? In the circumstances, will he agree that it would be in the Government's interest to publish a White Paper?
No, I do not agree. As Deputy Spring is aware, the publication of a White Paper was announced in 1984 by his Government but it was not published until 1987. Its title was Access and Opportunity. I appreciate the sentiments of the White Paper but they are mainly aspirational and there is no reference to cost. My ambitions and hopes in the Department — I have already outlined my task in this regard — are to facilitate progress and to work closely with, in particular, the Arts Council who had a sizeable budget of £10 million last year. I also want to work closely with the national cultural institutions. While I appreciate the aspirations contained in the White Paper I would be duplicating the roles of the Arts Council and the national cultural institutions who are performing the duties more than satisfactorily by doing any more.
Will the Minister agree that the situation has changed dramatically because of the availability of funding from the national lottery? It would be in the interest of everybody if he and his Department outlined what it is intended to do with the funding available.
I accept that, thankfully, funding is satisfactory although I always endeavour to try to improve it. However, my main aims in the Department are those outlined by the Taoiseach in February, to aid development of the arts, to improve access and participation by the public and to advance the status of artists. There are also other areas, to which I referred in previous replies, to involve more local authorities, to regionalise our national museums and their materials, to co-operate more closely with the Northern Ireland Arts Council and to ensure that we are totally involved in the EC dimension when the Maastricht Treaty is finalised. There are many elements involved and the Taoiseach and I outlined them clearly over the last few months. I am always willing to listen to views expressed by any Member of this House but a White Paper would simply be a duplication of the wonderful efforts made by the Arts Council and other organisations involved in national culture. Since my appointment, I have met all the parties concerned; since I was last questioned on this matter I met members of the boards of the galleries and the National Library and museum. I am very happy that progress is being made and that the investments are being used wisely. If there are any points which Deputy Spring — or any other Deputy — wishes to raise at any time I will be happy to examine their proposals.
