Táim thar a bheith sásta a bheith anseo inniu chun labhairt faoi Mheastacháin Athbhreithnithe na Roinne nua do 2020. I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the committee on the 2020 Further Revised Estimates for Vote 33 - tourism, culture, arts, Gaeltacht, sports and media. I will take this opportunity to congratulate Deputy Niamh Smyth on her new role as Chair of the committee. She hails from the constituency I grew up in of Cavan–Monaghan so I am delighted to see someone from that constituency in this role. I know from our previous Dáil term how active a spokesperson she was on this and how familiar she is with the brief on a personal level. I wish her well.
The original 2020 Revised Estimates for Vote 33 were passed by the Dáil in July of this year. These Estimates, however, relate to the then configuration of the Vote - culture, heritage and the Gaeltacht. A Further Revised Estimate was necessary for 2020 to give effect to the transfer of functions and resources from and to the Vote to reflect new roles and responsibilities. Responsibility for heritage matters has substantially transferred to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and all matters relating to the islands have transferred to the Department of Rural and Community Development. My Department has assumed responsibility for all matters related to tourism, sport and media. I am pleased to speak to the committee today with regard to tourism, culture, arts and media while my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, will address matters related to sport and the Gaeltacht.
The Covid-19 pandemic has utterly changed the landscape of the sectors for which I have responsibility as Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. There has been a collapse in international tourism which the OECD estimates will be in the order of 80%. The impact of social distancing measures and the required limits on gatherings to protect public health has significantly diminished the domestic tourism and hospitality sectors.
Cultural venues and events were among the first to be closed on foot of the crisis and restrictions on social distancing and gatherings has had, and will continue to have, a devastating impact on performance opportunities, displays, festivals and concerts. The impact of the pandemic on the arts sector extends well beyond artists to include crews and the wide range of people it takes to put on live performances in venues and festivals.
The sport sector has been directly impacted by the pandemic. Like the cultural sector, all sporting activity was suspended in March. Restrictions on attendances since activity resumed has severely impacted revenues and the commercial sports and leisure sectors have been severely curtailed by indoor gathering limits.
Across the Gaeltacht, businesses and communities alike have suffered a significant reduction in economic activity, tourism and educational visitors as a consequence of Covid-19.
The media sector has been especially hard-hit in terms of reduced advertising revenue, in particular, while at the same time having to fulfil a critical role in public messaging around Covid-19.
These sectors, individually and cumulatively, are an integral part of the fabric of our society, most particularly, in rural and regional areas where they support economic activity and physical and societal well-being. Well-being is a core principal underpinning the living with Covid-19 plan and it will be fundamental to public confidence and resilience as we emerge from and manage the crisis over the long term.
The need for important public health measures such as social distancing has placed necessary limits on gatherings to protect health. This has had a devastating impact on these sectors given their public facing and audience-driven nature. I have worked tirelessly with Government colleagues to ensure that a range of measures have been introduced to help support the tourism, arts, culture, Gaeltacht and sport sectors including: a €26 million adaptation grant for the tourism sector; a €10 million grant for coach tourism; the "stay and spend" tax credit initiative; an additional €25 million in funding for the Arts Council; a €5 million live events pilot grant scheme; a €3 million TV drama fund; €6 million to support the national cultural institutions and nationwide arts infrastructure; an additional €8 million for Údarás na Gaeltachta; €40 million for the three main field sports bodies, namely, the GAA, IRFU and FAI; and a €15 million resilience fund for sports governing bodies and clubs.
The universal income supports of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and the wage subsidy scheme have also been critical in supporting all sectors through this crisis and the extension of both of these schemes has been important in this regard. The 2020 Further Revised Estimates for my Department, which are under consideration today, reflect the additional funding and measures secured to support these sectors and ensure that as we begin to emerge from the shadow of Covid-19 we will have a vital tourism industry, a vibrant arts and culture sector, a dynamic sports and media sector and a landscape in which our language and our engagement with it can continue to grow and flourish.
When account is taken of all additional funding allocated in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including funding awarded as part of the July job stimulus, a gross provision of €1.003 billion is available to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in 2020. An additional €32.9 million in funding has been carried over from the 2019 capital provision for expenditure and priority projects in accordance with the provisions of public financial procedures.
In broad terms, the 2020 breakdown of allocations to the Vote is as follows: €148.4 million for tourism services, including €22.9 million in additional funding to deal with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic; just over €251 million for arts and culture, including an allocation of €105 million for the Arts Council, an increase of 31% on its 2019 allocation of €80 million as well as an additional funding of €5 million for a live events pilot scheme and €3 million for a new TV drama fund; just under €72 million for the Gaeltacht, including an additional €8 million for Údarás na Gaeltachta; €217 million for sports and recreational services, including €40 million for the three main field sports bodies, namely, the GAA, IRFU and FAI, a €15 million resilience fund for sport governing bodies and clubs and €15 million to provide for the GAA, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, LGFA, and the Camogie Association to stage the 2020 football, hurling and camogie championships; and €278.5 million for media and broadcasting, including an additional €2 million in respect of the broadcasting fund.
While the Department did not exist in its current configuration in 2019, a broad comparison of the comparable programme allocation indicates that the 2020 allocations are 25% higher than in 2019 reflecting my commitment, and that of Government, to support these vital yet vulnerable sectors as they navigate their way through the current Covid-19 crisis.
This increased funding is targeted at a number of key initiatives. In the case of the tourism programme, the 2020 allocation is some 14% higher than the comparable figure for 2019 and includes additional funding of €10 million to Fáilte Ireland towards a business adaptation scheme to allow the hospitality sector to adapt and reconfigure to comply with restrictions and a further additional €10 million for coach tourism.
The tourism recovery task force which was established in May has recently presented its recommendations which will help inform the development of a recovery plan for this important sector.
Funding for the arts and culture programme has increased by one third to just over €251 million. As Minister, I am acutely conscious of the devastating impact of the current crisis on this sector.
I recently established an arts and culture recovery task force and look forward to working with its members to develop a roadmap to recover the viability of the sector.
The 2020 allocation includes just under €56 million made available to the sector specifically to address the most severe impacts of this unprecedented crisis. An allocation of €278.5 million is available in 2020 for the media and broadcasting programme, representing an increase of 5% over the comparable figure for 2019. The media sector has a critical role to play in communicating the public messaging around Covid-19, and it is vital that we continue to support it in pursuit of this to the greatest extent possible.
My colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for Gaeltacht affairs and sport, Deputy Chambers, will speak to the Gaeltacht and sports programmes of Vote 33.
