Ar dtús báire, níl i gceist agam cur i gcoinne an Bhille seo. Fáiltím roimh na cuairteoirí atá thuas staighre. Bhuail mé le roinnt acu cheana féin agus muid ag déileáil leis an ábhar seo sa choiste. This Bill comes before us as the Royal Hibernian Academy celebrates 200 years since its foundation. I take this opportunity to congratulate it on that achievement. Its foundation was no whim of a British king but the result of arduous campaigning by Irish artists who demanded the chance to exhibit their work annually in a tradition that is now entering its third century.
For those who do not know, the Royal Hibernian Academy operates a world-class gallery, which is free to the public, on Ely Place. It is not that far from here. I encourage people to visit it and see for themselves the extent of Irish art that is on display. The academy also runs a school offering courses in drawing and painting. I attended many an exhibition thar na blianta nuair a bhíodh an taispeántas bliantúil ann ag Oireachtas na gGael. Bhíodh sé thuas ansin in Ely Place. Is cuimhin liom a bheith ag crochadh timpeall ann agus na deilbh agus na pictiúir á gcrochadh ar na fallaí ag an am. Bhíodh na healaíontóirí difriúla ann - cairde mo mháthair ach go háirithe, ach cairde m’athair chomh maith - ag caint lena chéile agus ag tapú an deis an méid a bhí acu a chur os comhair an phobail.
The substance of the Bill is quite simple and appears to be a commendable effort. It amounts to an old institution trying to remove some of the out-of-date constraints on its work. It seeks to ensure a dedicated keeper to care for its collection can be appointed, broaden the membership to new artists and allow the academy to widen its reach beyond the capital, if needs be, in terms of where it holds its meetings and so on. I commend the academy on these changes and I will not be opposing the Bill.
However, it is important that we reflect on these provisions and I have two questions in this regard. This is only the first or second opportunity there has been to deal with such a Bill. The previous private Bill was back in 2003, if I am correct. It is a long while ago. My first question is why certain private bodies are required to have such changes made by way of legislation and why, therefore, they have the right to have a Bill initiated in the Oireachtas. It is an anachronism and something we must deal with in some way. This is an opportunity for me to vent, if that is the right word. We have had a process for a number of years of statute law restatement or revision Bills by means of which we got rid of tens of thousands of bits of legislation that are no longer required. It has been quite interesting to look at that legislation from a historical point of view and on a point of law as well. I am not saying these charter bodies should be repealed, which is what we did with most of those bits of legislation. They were repealed or confined to the dustbin of history. These bodies are still working and in operation but a quirk of history means they were granted a royal charter by a British king or queen of the day, whether they wanted it or not. In their time, the granting of a royal charter was very important and allowed those organisations to survive on the funding a royal charter garnered. We can still see that in Britain.
As a republic, however, we do not look to royalty to grant patronage to our arts or any other body. In the Ireland of today and of the future, we should look at what is reflected by the royal title.
That is not to dismiss those who feel that the royals of England or any other jurisdiction should not have a role in their lives. It is just that, as a republic, we value citizenship rather than the subjects that exist in countries with royal families. I ask that in the future, the Oireachtas or the Law Reform Commission look again the statute law revision programme. That programme, which was initiated in 2005, remains ongoing. We should look at charter bodies that fulfil a vital policy role. If it is important that they be left completely as private entities, then so be it. However, we should change the law in order that they do not have to come back to the House and go through the same process we are going through today. If it is a charter body, then it should be allowed to do its own thing. It should be uncoupled from the State. We run the House, and our laws are based on what is decided in the House rather than an outside body. We should not be concerned with the private business of a private institution in any way unless it is contrary to public policy or if that institution is dependent on the State for funding.
Regarding the promotion of the arts, over the many years of its existence, the RHA has helped to promote and cultivate the fine arts in Ireland. There has been much debate about the need to promote the arts and artists and protect them in our society. In this way we can fully reflect on and allow the world to reflect on the inspiration that many people have in Ireland. Our art can stand as testament of our history, culture and heritage. It can stand on a par with the art and artists of any other country.
As already stated, the move to expand the membership of the RHA is very welcome. Hopefully, this will help to ensure the survival and expansion of the academy and a heightened awareness among the public of its work. I spoke recently to the Minister, Deputy Martin, about the basic income for the arts scheme and the recently published report, which is quite positive regarding the impact of the basic income. That said, there are still problems with the scheme. In most cases disabled artists have remained excluded. Artists who were on welfare before benefiting from being selected for the pilot scheme have been penalised for their participation.
As a society, we have to get to grips with this issue, regardless of whether we do so through the RHA or organisations such as An Comhairle Ealaíon. My mother was involved with the Independent Artists group. She was a member of its sculpture group. Many of them have moved on and other organisations have taken their place. The aim of all of them is to ensure that our creativity and art product is there to see and that we can encourage other generations to enjoy art and to participate in making it. For these reasons, I commend the academy on its work.
We also need to ensure that we continue to look at enhancing and funding the arts in whatever ways we can. The dividends for tourism and our world standing are very difficult to measure, but any money invested in the arts has shown huge benefits for Ireland, financially and in terms of tourism.
