Vol. 515 No. 5
7 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the amount of money a person (details supplied) was paid for his report concerning the Academy for the Performing Arts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4918/00]
I wish to clarify that the study in question was undertaken by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and was commissioned jointly by the Department of Education and Science and my Department. The specialist in question is a member of the staff of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The fee for this work was £14,000 sterling which was paid to the Guildhall school on completion of the report. The consultants' vouched expenses were also recouped. The overall cost of the consultancy amounted to £19,358.05.
What involvement had the Arts Council with Mr. Renshaw from the Guildhall? What experience had Mr. Renshaw in the areas of dance and film? Will the Minister explain to the House why the Lindsey report confirmed the view that Earlsfort Terrace should be the site for the National Centre for Performing Arts and why the Dublin Institute of Technology and Trinity College with 100 years experience in these areas were overlooked? Will the Minister further confirm whether any of the Taoiseach's advisers were involved in determining the Government decision as to the location of the centre?
As the Deputy will be well aware, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama was chosen because it had done a good deal of work up to that point and we believed it had the expertise and knowledge. Mr. Renshaw has excellent qualifications in this regard. He was formerly principal of the Yehudi Menuhin School and Gresham Professor of Music and has lectured widely in Britain and overseas in education and training. He is a member of the board of the European League of Institutes of the Arts. It was important in the interests of transparency and fairness to obtain outside advice independent of the country. Otherwise we could have been accused of taking one specific interest on board. With regard to the Arts Council's involvement, I understand that in terms of music and dance, both officers of the Arts Council were involved in the initial discussions which took place with Mr. Renshaw's people.
In the interests of transparency and fairness, to which the Minister referred, will she confirm whether the three drafts of the Renshaw report were altered on suggestions which came from her Department?
One engages people with specific knowledge to compile reports. I do not claim to have specific knowledge of the world of music and dance although I enjoy both very much. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama had already been contacted in this regard and Mr. Noel Lindsay had done a great deal of work on it.
The steering group has been established. The chairman and members have been appointed and have held at least one meeting at which they planned their programme. Full consultation will take place with all groups, including Dublin Institute of Technology and Trinity College, in this regard.
What about the changes to the draft reports at the suggestion of the Minister's Department?
We are endeavouring to take the best possible approach in establishing a performing arts school.
The Minister paid £14,000 for that report.
Deputy Brian O'Shea.
I did not have the expertise required. If the Department had compiled the report the Deputy would then ask why I did not seek the assistance of experts in the field. That is exactly what we did.
The Minister has exceeded her time. Deputy Brian O'Shea.
Would the Minister agree that the report is not underpinned by any field research or analysis which makes it a very inadequate document in terms of the proposed £35 million project? Would she agree that the closing date for submissions for the project was 21 May 1999 and that the Deloitte & Touche report arrived well after that date? Will she inform the House who commissioned that report?
I do not know who commissioned the report. It appears to have been prepared to address the feasibility of locating the academy at DCU. It was submitted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for their information and for use by them in their deliberations. The steering committee will undertake a great deal of consultation on the programmes to be performed by the academy. Officers from the Arts Council, the field of music and drama, the president of the Dublin Institute of Technology and the Concert Hall formed part of the Guildhall study.
The Minister's time is up.
Will the Minister investigate who commissioned the Deloitte & Touche report? Who presented it to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama? The steering committee established by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands in co-ordination with the Department of Education and Science comprises personnel who are the direct beneficiaries of the Government's decision. This smacks of cronyism and a conflict of interests.
We must move on to the next question.
