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Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2020

Thursday, 1 October 2020

Questions (34)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

34. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht the recommendations she has made for budget 2021 that will provide additional supports to performers, artists and arts workers during ongoing Covid-19 restrictions and beyond; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27481/20]

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Written answers

The arts and culture sectors have taken a very particular hit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; cultural venues and events were among the first to be closed in the country’s public health response to the crisis, and they will be among the last to recover.

I have recently appointed the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce which is being chaired by Clare Duignan.  Taking as its 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 Taskforce will prepare a report to me setting out recommendations on how best the arts and culture sector can adapt and recover from the unprecedented damage arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.  The sector includes culture, the arts, the audiovisual industry and the live entertainment industry.

The Taskforce has already met twice.  Its proceedings will be conducted in a transparent manner and all correspondence will be published in due course.

In parallel with the work of the Taskforce, the July stimulus package included a range of new supports for the sector. In this context, funding for the Arts Council has been further increased and last month I launched a number of new music and performance support schemes to aid employment in the creative industries.  An allocation of €5 million is being made available under the “Live Performance Support Scheme” which aims to assist commercial venues, producers and promoters of live performances and provide employment to workers in the creative industries.

A further support package, the Music Stimulus Package, involves three funding schemes designed to help sustain the popular and commercial music sector across all music genres, including rock, pop, hip hop, indie, jazz, country and western and traditional and folk.  Under this package, a fund of €1,000,000 is being 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 share their work in the context of COVID restrictions. The Music Stimulus Package schemes will be managed on behalf of the Department by First Music Contact and will be subject to peer panel assessment.

With the upcoming Budget and the development of the National Economic Plan, the Government will review and refine existing supports, and consider any further necessary measures required as a consequence of COVID-19.

Question No. 35 answered with Question No. 21.
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