Skip to main content
Normal View

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2020

Thursday, 1 October 2020

Questions (9)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

9. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht the recommendations she has made for a roadmap for the arts and live entertainment sectors to reopen safely, protecting the public and workers across arts and entertainment in addition to ensuring the survival of the sectors as Ireland moves out of Covid-19 restrictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27483/20]

View answer

Oral answers (6 contributions)

The people who work in live entertainment including music, the arts, the performers, the sound people, promoters and the crew have been crucified as a result of the pandemic and the restrictions which, with the current trajectory of infections, are set to remain so for some time. I have asked repeatedly for months, as have the people involved, and the Minister will know they have been campaigning, for real supports in terms of retaining the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and other financial supports for reduced capacities in venues or no capacity because of the pandemic, and other supports. Will the Minister respond to their desperate pleas?

The Government published the Resilience and Recovery 2020 - 2021, the Plan for Living with COVID-19, on 15 September. This is a cross-Government approach to managing the pandemic for the coming months. This plan sets out how the balance between public health, economic and social aspects of living with Covid-19 will operate in the short to medium term.

Most of the country is now at level 2, which is based on a medium-term approach to managing risk. At all times the priority will be to keep our schools open, while keeping people safe and protecting the resilience of our economy and communities.

I am very aware of the impact of the pandemic on those working in the commercial events sector, not just in terms of performers but also the crews and the wide range of people it takes to put on a drama or a music performance. I have met the Events Industry Alliance and my Department is in regular contact with the representative groups.

The Deputy approached me informally to make sure there was a member of the events industry on the task force. In response to the Deputy's informal request, I have put two on the task force to make sure their voices are heard.

The arts and culture sectors have been severely impacted as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic; cultural venues and events were among the first to be closed in the country and they will be among the last to recover.

The Arts Council is the statutory body charged with supporting and developing the arts in Ireland and has received an additional €25 million in funding in 2020. Among the measures being introduced are new and additional bursaries and commissions from the Arts Council, including supports for freelance artists and those looking to develop projects on a collaborative basis.

The jobs stimulus package has specifically provided a wide range of supports across the culture and audio visual sectors. These include the €10 million pilot performance and production support package to support the live performance and the audiovisual production sector as well as a new €10 million culture fund.

The recently appointed task force will prepare a report including a set of recommendations on how best the arts and culture sector can adapt and recover from the unprecedented damage arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the upcoming budget and the development of the national economic plan, the Government will review and refine existing supports. The programme for Government states that that task force must feed into the national economic plan but as I said earlier, I have also asked them to give me a report outlining their key priorities ahead of the budget so that I am not waiting until 31 October. It is to ensure I get their key priorities before the budget. On 31 October, after the budget, that task force will feed into the national economic plan when they present the report.

I genuinely welcome the fact that the Minister responded to that informal approach, which I made on behalf of the Events Industry Alliance, to get more representation on the task force. Even since then, however, the situation has deteriorated. With more severe restrictions being imposed in Dublin, and possibly elsewhere, it is a very grim picture that is facing the events, music and arts industry. Frankly, if we compare the additional supports that have been provided with the position in New Zealand, it has given massive support to sustain these people compared to what we are giving them. We will need those music and arts people and so on in the grim period ahead we are facing, and we will need them to be around when we finally get out of this dire situation. They have made clear their demands. Critically, it is the maintenance of the PUP but for people to be allowed to take bits of work on top of that without losing their income, additional supports to cover their ongoing costs such as grants and so on and, where events can happen but on reduced capacity, that subsidies would be provided to ensure those things can happen.

That is exactly where my focus remains because from my engagement with the stakeholders, as the Deputy stated, that is what they need. I realise the situation has deteriorated. I am also very conscious of the unprecedented nature of the challenges facing live performers, promoters and producers, not least from a financial point of view. I recently announced a new fund that will assist established commercial venues and promoters to employ performers, artists, technicians and creative and performance support staff up to the end of 2020 in anticipation of the return of audiences to live performance.

An allocation of €5 million has been made under the live performance support scheme. That was a pilot scheme, which is why the amount is €5 million. It is looking at the applications and the number of applications seen helps and informs me in my negotiations on the budget because I can see how well that has been responded to. My officials engaged with the sector in designing that specific scheme because it helps de-risk the cost of preparing for new productions which may subsequently have to be postponed, cancelled or curtailed due to restrictions to safeguard public health. The main objective of the scheme is to provide employment opportunities in the ticketed performance sector, allow commercial organisers of live performance to commence preparations immediately and for productions to go ahead in the near future, while also complying with the protection measures. My focus is on getting these people performing again and getting technicians working again because, without them, we will not have any performances.

Let us be clear. With the cuts in the PUP, the retrograde decision to allow the banks end the waiver on mortgage repayments and so on, the financial pressure on the 35,000 people working in this sector will become unbearable. They then have the ongoing costs of repayments, insurance and warehousing; we can go through the list of costs. There will not be a sector unless there is a dramatic improvement in supports. Many of these people will not be able to pay their bills so the PUP issue is critical.

That has to be addressed. Equally, the ongoing costs must be covered and grants must be made available to sustain this industry through what is a very uncertain and indefinite period of shutdown, or near shutdown. It is a life-and-death matter for the 35,000 people affected and many more who are affected indirectly.

From my extensive engagement with the sector, I am conscious that the changes to the PUP and employment wage subsidy scheme affect the lives of thousands of artists and other workers across the arts, culture and live entertainment sectors in a devastating way. I understand these supports are needed now more than ever to support artists in their long-awaited return to work. I have raised these matters with my Cabinet colleagues in the context of budget 2021, recognising that there will be an extended period in which we will have to live with the virus. I am aware of the difficulties this will raise, especially in the sectors in question. My focus is firmly on the survival, sustainability and recovery of this vital industry. As the Deputy stated, there are 35,000 workers, but they bring €3.5 billion to the economy. As the Taoiseach said at the Dáil on Tuesday, the Government is considering sector-specific supports to protect the livelihoods of as many people as possible.

In the face of this pandemic, we have to be creative and innovative, and we have to think outside the box to support as many as possible. All suggestions should be considered and all should remain on the table. All schemes will be kept under review and no decision will be finalised until budget day.

Top
Share