For the first time since the grievance procedure was introduced I believe that the two minutes allotted will be in excess of my requirements. I say that because I know that, in asking the new Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht to ensure that a proper percentage of lottery funds goes to the arts as originally intended, I am pushing a wide open door.
I am not trying to build up an argument here tonight or to marshal the facts in favour of more lottery money for the arts, I am assuming that the Minister is in total agreement with me on this. What I am seeking to do is provide a platform for the Minister to announce his intentions on the day before the budget to pre-empt any designs the Department of Finance might have on easy lotto money. I believe that there would never have been a national lottery but for the inclusion of arts and culture for a major slice of the proceeds. The then Taoiseach, Dr. Garret FitzGerald, sanctioned the lottery because he saw in it one way of finally having some proper funding of the arts. Of course, what we are getting is merely substitution for what should have have been cogent Exchequer expenditure. The intended percentage for the Arts was 35 per cent of the total funds. I was involved in that decision at the time. Unfortunately, this was not written into the Bill and here I detect the hand of the Department of Finance. There is no need to remind the Minister, Deputy M. Higgins, of how that Department, which also controls the Office of Public Works, likes to maintain its control over most things as far as finance is concerned.
I look forward to the Minister of State, on behalf of the Minister, telling us that he intends to deliver to the arts, now that he is in control, what was originally intended when the lottery was established. I am sorry the Minister is not present but I am glad of this opportunity to congratulate the Minister of State and wish him well on his reappointment to his portfolio.