There is no time frame in place for the publication of the findings of a report into spending at the Arts Council, Minister for Arts Culture, Communications, Media and Sport Patrick O'Donovan has said.
Earlier this year the Government ordered an external review of governance and culture at the council following a finding by the Comptroller and Auditor General that €7 million was spent on an unsuccessful IT system.
Speaking at a conference in Dublin, Mr O'Donovan said the review is currently under way under Professor Niamh Brennan.
He said that there is no set time frame for the findings.
"I'm not putting a time frame on in it publicly, for good reason, because the scale of the terms of reference are so big," he said.
"They're up and running, so I'm letting them at it, but I will report to the Government intermittently on progress," he added.
He outlined his plan that he will "set a date with the Secretary General of the Department, whether that's four monthly or six monthly, and provide an update to the Government too."
Mr O'Donovan added that he wants the review completed "as quickly as possible".
When asked to describe his ongoing relationship with the Arts Council, he said "my officials have a working relationship with them, personally I don't, because, for good reason, I think it would be inappropriate to be cutting across the work that Niamh Brennan and her colleagues are doing and me being in dialogue or in discussions, I wouldn't believe that that would be appropriate."
He added "the Oireachtas voted to give this money to my Department. It was then given to the Arts Council.
"It has disappeared, for want of a better word, and I'm not happy, and, you know, I have to get to a situation where if people are asked in regard to the Arts Council or any agency under my department's remit, that they can speak confidently about it."
Mr O'Donovan was speaking at the opening of the RadioDays conference in Dublin, a major independent radio conference.
