A CLAIM that the arts were underfunded was rejected by the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.
Mr Higgins was replying to the Fianna Fail spokeswoman on the arts, Ms Sile de Valera, who said that the arts plan had been introduced with great pomp and ceremony. However, it was now found that a three-year plan had become a five-year plan, and there was already a £12 million shortfall.
The Minister said that last January An Chomhairle Ealaion itself had agreed to redesignate the plan to cover the five-year period 1995-1999 and to re-order its priorities accordingly. It followed that the funding targets in the plan now applied to this five-year period.
Ms de Valera asked if the Minister accepted the unbiased view of the arts editor of the The Irish Times, Mr Paddy Woodworth, that there was a "criticism-resistant climate" currently pervading public cultural life.
Mr Higgins said he welcomed criticism, but he did not agree with the reference quoted.