Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 October 2020
89. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the support available for businesses such as those in the live events, arts and entertainment sectors that do not own their own premises other than the Covid restrictions support scheme.. [31991/20]
View answerIn Budget 2021, the Government announced the provision of support for live entertainment in the amount of €50m. This will include measures for the commercial entertainment sector and will support live entertainment in across the country. This will build on the pilot live performance scheme in 2020 which was introduced as part of the July Stimulus. The pilot scheme was available to promoters whether or not they owned their own premises. There will be further supports for music, building on the phenomenal demand for support under the July stimulus Music Scheme operated by First Music Contact. A scheme of capital grants for equipment will also operate in 2021. Combined with measures announced by the Minister for Finance, this will provide additional supports to a sector severely impacted by COVID-19. Officials in my Department will engage with the sector on the detail of how these new supports will operate, and I hope also to announce the recipients of the pilot scheme shortly.
These measures are in addition to other supports common to other or all sectors including the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, restart grants, exemptions from commercial rates, the warehousing of tax liabilities, and the reduction in VAT on ticket sales. In addition, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is available to all employees and the self-employed who have lost their job due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also a range of loans, grants, vouchers and schemes available including the COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme which offers loans from €10,000 to €1 million, for terms of up to five and a half years, and COVID-19 Business Loans of up to €25,000 which are available through Microfinance Ireland with zero repayments and zero interest for the first 6 months and the equivalent of an additional 6 months interest-free subject to certain terms and conditions.
Details of all of these supports are available at https://dbei.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/COVID-19-supports/.
