THE "broad elements" of how the Abbey and Peacock theatres in Dublin should be funded annually have been agreed, a spokesman for the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht has said.
A committee meets monthly to find ways to stem losses incurred by the National Theatre, which runs the Abbey and Peacock theatres, and which receives grants of £2.5 million, but manages to generate only half that at the box office.
The spokesman said the committee, which was set up last June, is examining "how to go about dealing with the accumulated losses".
A report from the Comptroller and Auditor General's office said the company generated box office income of only £1.22 million in 1995, but received £2.49 million in financial assistance from the State.
It achieved an attendance level of around 63 per cent in 1995, the report said. "However, due to discounts, agents' commission and lithe tendency for the cheaper seats to be sold first, the revenue generated represented approximately 50 per cent of potential revenue.
"The Arts Council, through which some of the grants were paid, set a target of 60 per cent to be achieved. This would entail increasing attendance levels to around 70 per cent.
"In the period 1984-1995 only 30 per cent of the 79 plays staged have achieved that level," the report said.
The National Theatre blamed an over capacity of theatre seats in Dublin in relation to population - 60,000 seats per week are available - the demand for novelty or spectacle and "the exploitation to near exhaustion of the more popular plays in the repertoire".
The spokesman for the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht was unable to say when the review committee would finish its work. It is reporting on progress to the Arts Council.