asked the Taoiseach (a) the funds which so far have been allocated to arts and culture in 1987 by or through his Department; and (b) the proposals, if any, he has for further funding for arts and culture in 1987.

So far in 1987 £11,841,546 has been allocated to arts and culture related projects by and through my Department.

Further funds, from the proceeds of the national lottery, will be allocated shortly.

How much of that £11,841,546, most of it provided at the instigation of myself and my colleagues when in Government, has been provided from the proceeds of the national lottery.

I may not be able to give the Deputy an exact figure but it is about £1.317546 million.

I will not hold the Taoiseach to the last three decimal places there. Would the Taoiseach not agree that to have allocated so far this year £1.3 million to the arts from the proceeds of the national lottery is in fact a perversion of the original intention of the lottery? Could the Taoiseach indicate what further sums will be allocated this year from the lottery proceeds to arts and culture?

The Deputy will have to wait for that. A total of £7 million, all told, of the national lottery proceeds has been allocated. Approximately £1.3 million has been allocated to arts and culture and, if it is any consolation to the Deputy, I do not for one moment wish to take at all from the reasonably creditable performance of the Government of which he was a member in relation to arts and culture. I have already said that publicly.

The Taoiseach has just told me that I must wait for the information. I can assure the Taoiseach that I do not intend to hold my breath waiting, nor can the people involved in arts and culture hold their breath while waiting. Would the Taoiseach not agree that on 14 October it is rather a ridiculous situation to find that only one-fifth of the proceeds from the national lottery this year have been allocated? Would he take steps immediately to provide for the allocation of the remainder of the funds? Otherwise they will have no effect during the course of this year.

We hope to do that fairly soon but I would just point out to the Deputy that our approach was that we felt it desirable to have the debate on the Estimates and hear what the House had to say and if the House is particularly keen that certain areas which would come within the ambit of the national lottery deserve more consideration than others, then we can take that into account when allocating the final tranche of the national lottery.