Ba mhaith liom a rá i dtosach go bhfuil áthas orm deis a bheith agam an tairiscint seo a chur ós comhair an Tí.
I want to inform the House that I propose to cross the political divide with this matter, that is to share the time of 20 minutes between three of us, Senators McDonald, Hanafin and myself. I am glad that there is such unanimity with regard to this matter. It does not happen very often in the House and I am glad that we have it on this occasion. That is, of course as it should be because music and our culture know no bounds. They belong to the nation. They do not belong to any party, individual or group.
The existing support arrangements for Irish cultural organisations such as Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, on the basis on which grants are allocated, is that most cultural organisations engaged in the promotion of our national culture are grant-aided by the State. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann are one of these organisations. Founded in 1951, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann are now the premier cultural organisation in Ireland. They are indeed an international movement, having organised branches throughout the 32 counties, 40 branches in Britain, 25 branches in the United States and there are branches also in France, Germany and Australia.
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann are grant-aided from two sources, the Department of the Gaeltacht and the Arts Council. The initial grant from the Department of the Gaeltacht many years ago was the sum of £10,000. The value of money has changed considerably since then. That grant now stands at £110,000. In 1978 the grant was £100,000, in 1981 it was increased to £125,000, in 1982 it was reduced to £110,000 and it has continued at that figure ever since. That means that since 1978 the grant has remained static except in the case of one year, 1981. If the grant had increased proportionately in relation to inflation it should now have reached at least £200,000.
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann have grown enormously in that space of time and, therefore, it was necessary to extend the headquarters of the organisation in Monkstown. This was something Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann decided to do four to five years ago. When that proposal was first made the cost of building was at a much lower rate than it is today. Because of that building costs increased enormously and the cost of the building extension doubled from what the original estimate was. Therefore, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann got into financial difficulties and are in that position now.
Perhaps at this stage I should give the position regarding that situation at the moment. The present financial problems of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann are not attributable to the movement but are traceable to two main factors, (a) the non-payment of a Government capital grant which was promised in 1982 and (b) the reduction of the annual organisation grant from Roinn na Gaeltachta, which was reduced in 1982 from £125,000 to £110,000 and has been kept at that level since. This is unprecedented treatment for a cultural movement, particularly one whose success is a matter of record. It is this withholding of grants and not the building of our new theatre complex which is causing the financial problems of Comhaltas. If the capital grants had been paid on time and the level of annual funding maintained Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann would have been in an overdraft situation instead of being in a debt situation.
Another factor which has contributed to the financial problems of Comhaltas has been that the entertainment grant of Comhaltas from the Arts Council has remained static at £59,000 out of a budget of £5½ million for three years. Last year a survey requisitioned by the Arts Council and carried out by the Landsdowne Marketing Research Limited showed Irish traditional music in a premier position among the arts in Ireland. Yet only 2 per cent of the accounts in the budget is allocated to native art form. It is worth nothing the figures paid to other art forms, namely ballet £400,000, opera £350,000 and other organisations paid proportionately less figures. We do not begrudge such payments but we believe that the native art form at least is entitled to parity with these.
It is not correct to say that only £22,000 was collected by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in membership fees. A sum of £22,000 was received by the Ard Chomhairle but the branch also receive a proportion of the membership fees, the county board receive another proportion and the provincial council receive another proportion, so the £22,000 referred to is only part of the allocation of the branch membership fees. While we welcome the announcement from the Government recently that the long awaited capital grant first promised in 1982 will shortly be paid the amount of £250,000 is £100,000 short of the equivalent sum promised.
The second area to which we now request the Government to address themselves is the annual organisation grant to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann which was reduced in 1982 from £125,000 to £110,000 and has been kept at that level since. The work programme of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann covers three continents, has 42 branches, 600 classes, 45 festivals which 750,000 people attend, three annual tours and the entire functions are attended by approximately one million people. The Minister will possibly say — I welcome the Minister in the House to listen to this discussion — that part of our grant is a capital grant and that the other part is another type of grant. I would say, in anticipation of what the Minister is going to say, that that does not really matter. It does not matter whether part of the grant is capital or whether it is current. It is the amount of money that we receive at the end of the day or at the end of the year that matters and not the terms of the various allocations in the grants. What matters to us is that in 1978 we were receiving £100,000 and in 1984 we are receiving only £110,000 despite the depreciation in the value of money, inflation and everything else. I may add that it is disappointing to us to learn that further organisations have been given increases during those years, at least inflationary increases, and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann have not been given any.
I will now concede to Senator McDonald and I will ask him to continue for five minutes.