I congratulate the Government on making a decision to develop and consult widely on a national cultural policy. It is the first time that any Government has done so. I applaud the former Minister, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and the current Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, for setting up a consultative process to develop, for the first time, a national cultural policy. However, this has been undermined extraordinarily by the actions over the past week, particularly the appointments to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Hear, hear.

Never has the state of our national cultural institutions been so fragile and uncertain with regard to governance and funding. We heard a couple of days ago that the National Museum of Ireland has had to close galleries. There is extraordinary uncertainty.

The articles and memorandum of association of the Irish Museum of Modern Art state that 15 members can be appointed to the board. I understand – I am saying this under privilege here today – that a letter was written to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art to cap its membership at nine. This means that when former councillor Jane Dillon Byrne was appointed by the Labour Party to be the ninth member of the board this summer, there should have been no more appointments.

The articles and memorandum of association refer to a membership of 15. The appointments of last week bring the number to 11. We need clarity. Are there rules? Are they being changed? If the articles and memorandum of the museum state there are to be 15 members of the board, there are four additional vacancies. However, according to a Government decision, the number of members has been exceeded. Therefore, clear issues arise over transparency, accountability and confidence.

My question is whether the chairman of the IMMA was consulted about the skill set. The arts world is being crucified in terms of public funding. We are being told to raise money internationally and that philanthropy is the key, yet I assume the board of IMMA had philanthropic members ready to be appointed. I want to know whether the Minister, or a previous Minister, engaged with the current chairman of IMMA to determine the skill set required by members of the board. It is something I am worried about. Next Tuesday, an Oireachtas committee will engage in pre-legislative scrutiny of the National Concert Hall Bill. Elements of that Bill are to do with centralised control by the Minister and the Government on artistic matters.

Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?

I would like to invite the Minister to have a broad debate about national cultural policy and begin the process of developing a national cultural policy by Easter 2016, including provisions on how to enhance, strengthen and protect the independence of the national cultural institutions.

The weakness of our parliamentary democracy has been exposed by the abuse by Fine Gael and the Taoiseach of our institutions, namely, a State board and this House. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, came to the Chamber and I put a number of questions to her, as did others. None of the questions was answered and yesterday I wrote a letter to the Minister setting out the questions again. What obligation is on the Minister to answer these questions? This is meant to be a democracy in which we can participate and get answers. What are we here for if it does not serve that purpose? To follow up on the comments of Senator Mac Conghail, the Minister said she was in the process of drafting legislation to ensure the number of board members could be increased from nine to 11. Is the appointment of Mr. McNulty to the board of IMMA legal?

It is governed by the articles of association.

Has the IMMA board met yet to ratify the appointment? It does not appear so. If not, was the High Court judge made aware of these facts when the nomination was queried, or was the High Court judge misled?

We are not discussing the role of the High Court judge.

We are here in a parliamentary democracy looking for answers to basic questions about someone whose candidacy is up for grabs and who is about to take up a position in a few weeks. The public deserves answers, as do Members. Is there a judicial review process to review the recent judgment that deemed the candidate eligible? Can the Labour Party and the Tánaiste, Deputy Burton, stand over behaviour that appears shadier by the day?

I was sorry to hear an unconfirmed report that one of the people who had been given an indication that they might win the nomination, Samantha Long, has now submitted her resignation-----

That is not relevant to the Order of Business.

I regret to think there are so many victims.

That is not relevant.

It is relevant.

It is not relevant.