Tourism and arts supports
Senator Byrne backed calls for the Tourism Minister to come to the House and said recent Government support for panto, theatre and other arts groups showed the concerns raised by Senators had been heard.
I want to refer back to issues we raised in the House on Tuesday. I strongly endorse the call from Senator Black that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, come before the House. I am aware the Leader gave a commitment on Tuesday to do that. It is important to acknowledge the issues raised by Senator Cummins and me, especially around the support for amateur and semi-professional panto and theatre groups around the country. It is clear from her announcement yesterday that the Minister listened, especially given that for many of the groups, the roll-out of this support will be coming through local authorities. It is important to put on record that it is welcome but, like Senator Black, I feel we need clarity on a whole range of other issues. One of my concerns stems from when the Tánaiste was before the House and envisaged that some of the restrictions will be going beyond 9 January. That causes particular concern for those involved in the arts and entertainment sector, so it is important that the Minister responsible comes before the House.
The Leader will recall that on Tuesday I also raised the issue of the adequacy of the Office of the Data Protection Commission. Yesterday we saw the Norwegian data protection authority express serious concern around a draft judgment of our Data Protection Commission. The Norwegian authority contends that if the commission's judgment is allowed to proceed, it will permit Facebook to dispense with the need for all of us to give consent for our data to be used. I am not going to make a call, especially in this short period of time, on this draft decision but the fact the Norwegian data protection authority is expressing concern only adds to the concerns I expressed on Tuesday.
Last of all, as the Leader will know, Senator Ward and I have been raising the question of a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Comment on this
Yes. Several of us have been doing it. A number of countries have now done this. It is important the EU now acts.