Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2020
11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht her plans to expand the more than €5 million pilot performance programme from the recently activated July stimulus to the live entertainment and event sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27482/20]
View answer13. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht if specific funding will be provided for the events and entertainment industry due to the ongoing and adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector and the resultant loss of employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27422/20]
View answerWe covered some of this ground in a previous question. The €5 million announced in the July stimulus for 35,000 people is a pittance. The Minister says this is just a pilot, but a pilot is not good enough for the dire situation that faces those 35,000 people. The Minister will know that the EPIC working group, The Events Industry Alliance, the National Campaign for the Arts and the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland, MEAI, representing musicians and so on, are looking for a hell of a lot more. What they want to know is what the Minister is recommending to the Government in advance of the budget to ensure that happens and that they can survive?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 13 together.
I am pleased to inform Deputies Boyd Barrett and Brendan Smith that earlier this month I launched a number of new music and performance schemes, totalling €6 million, to aid employment in the creative industries. The music stimulus package involves three funding schemes designed to help sustain the popular commercial music sector across all music genres, including rock, pop, hip hop, indie, jazz, country and traditional folk. Under this package, a fund of €1 million has been put in place to stimulate areas of work which artists would usually fund with income from own sources, including live event fees. These schemes are targeted at professional musicians and their teams and will support song writing camps, recording and album releases. The aim is to ensure that Irish musicians, engineers, PR, media, agents, labels and publishers can continue to develop and insure their work in the context of Covid restrictions. The music stimulus package schemes are being managed on behalf of the Department by First Music Contact and will be subject to peer panel assessment.
Under the live performance supports pilot scheme, a further allocation of €5 million is being made available, which aims to assist commercial venues, producers, promoters of live performances and provide employment to workers in creative industries. My Department developed the conditions of this scheme in consultation with the sector, with particular assistance from EPIC. By the initial closing date, more than 100 applications had been received, requesting funding of over €15 million. That is why it is a pilot scheme. We will engage with the stakeholders to see what would work best before we consider anything further. The Deputy will be aware that I cannot have the negotiations for the budget on the floor of the House and that that is work I will be doing with my Cabinet colleagues.
Deputies Boyd Barrett and Brendan Smith will also be aware that I recently appointed the arts and culture recovery task force, which is being chaired by Clare Duignan. The membership of that task force includes representatives from the Events Industry Alliance. Taken as a starting point, the research and evidence of the devastating impact of the pandemic on the sector compiled by the Department, the Arts Council and other stakeholders, the task force will prepare a report setting out recommendations on how best the arts and culture sector can adapt and recover from the unprecedented damage arising from the pandemic.
The sector includes culture, the arts, the audio-visual industry and the live entertainment industry. The task force has already met twice. Its proceedings will be conducted in a transparent manner and all correspondence will be published in due course. I will consider the findings of the task force, as well as the experience of new schemes which were launched last month, in framing any further responses to the crisis.
Let us make a comparison. The Minister might not give me the exact figures that she is recommending in the negotiations but in New Zealand, the package for arts, music and live entertainment is €175 million. This dwarfs what is being given to, let us remember, a live music and events sector that has never received a cent from Government, and never asked for it, and an arts sector which is one of the most poorly funded in western Europe. We have taken our arts workers, musicians, crew and live entertainment people for granted. We now realise, or should realise, how badly we need these people and how much they contribute to our mental well-being, our welfare and our future in these grim times. The additional money that has been put forward is really a pittance when divided among the 35,000 people who work in music, live entertainment, the arts and so on. It is not enough. We need much more.
I welcome that I had an opportunity to discuss some of these issues with the Minister previously and I welcome her statement that she will work in the budgetary context on the key recommendations of the task force and that the entertainment and events sector is represented on that task force. The Minister also said that this was the first sector to close. We know it is facing unprecedented and ongoing challenges and given all the medical evidence those challenges and difficulties will be with us for some time.
As stated by Deputy Boyd Barrett, we do not want to lose this sector or the professionals involved in it who are across many different trades, professions and disciplines. We need a comprehensive package in the budget to assist live performers, producers, artists, musicians and others. When assistance and a programme is being put in place it is important that emerging talent and small bands are recognised as well. We are all aware that we need the emerging talent and they may not be very well organised. In many instances, they bring our music, song and dance to other continents. They are great ambassadors for our country. In any scheme of assistance, which is needed for the entire sector and for all disciplines within the sector, it is important that emerging and new talent is recognised as well and given adequate assistance.
Both Deputies will be aware that it is not possible to anticipate the budget. I am very familiar with the pre-budget submissions of the Events Industry Alliance and everyone involved in this sector. I acknowledge the Deputies' interest in these matters and I can assure them that I will be doing my best for the sector in the budget and subsequently.
For information, the total funding for the arts in Ireland this year is €338 million. That has increased by more than 30% this year. I would never have suggested - this is the reason I continually emphasise the word "pilot" - that €5 million was enough. It is a start. I come from this background myself. There are many Deputies here who have family or friends in this sector. I am acutely aware of not just the needs and livelihoods of the performers who are front and centre stage but those who enable to go on stage.
On the international comparison, I know some people look to approaches taken in other countries but it can be very difficult to make those comparisons. Population differences mean that supports are not directly comparable. We need to focus on what is in Ireland. For example, in the UK there is a very large commercial theatre sector that does not exist here to the same extent. We need to focus on the measures that are needed here. My focus will be on the report of the task force, which will consult widely to develop a clear approach which, in turn, will inform not only the budget but the national economic plan.
Let us be clear. At the best of times many people who worked in the arts were in borderline poverty situations. Cuts to the pandemic unemployment payment and the employment wage subsidy scheme will, potentially, drive thousands of people into poverty. Without sufficient grants to cover insurance costs, warehouse costs, debt repayments and other ongoing payments, people are going to go under and they are going to go under soon. Historically, we have undervalued, in terms of the support provided by Government, the arts, music and live entertainment sectors, although we trade internationally on their reputation and they contribute so much to our society. They are the glue that makes us a culture and a society.
There must be a seismic shift in the mentality of the Government regarding the importance of this sector to us as a people and a society, particularly in these difficult times.
I repeat that we often underrate the huge employment in our creative industries. It is spread throughout the regions. The industries are not just good employers but are also important for the well-being of our society. It is important to put in place robust measures to provide adequate support for all the artists and their support personnel, to ensure we do not lose these key artists and this sector. They are very important for this country and for the reputation of this country abroad. They bring a good and positive message from this country to other continents in normal times.
I guarantee that I do not want to lose this sector either. I am very conscious of the emerging artists. For example, we ran a programme online with Hot Press for young and emerging artists earlier this year. I also guarantee that I have never undervalued music and the arts. That is the background I come from; it is what I studied. That is where all my friends and family are. I place an immense value on the sector. It is a privilege to be the Minister with responsibility for culture and arts at this most challenging time. I have a keen eye on doing what is best for this sector, to support it not just to survive but to thrive at the other end of Covid. That is why I am engaging extensively with the sector. I have heard people's concerns and I will bring those to the negotiations, but I cannot have the negotiations on the floor of the House. However, I can guarantee my commitment to this sector and how much I value it. It is the beating heart of our nation, as far as I am concerned. It is our identity. We have to stop talking about and praising it without placing a value on it by supporting it.
