I am acutely aware of the challenges facing all musicians who rely on live performance to sustain their livelihoods on foot of necessary public health restrictions. The COVID-19 Business Aid Scheme is operated by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment as one of a number of horizontal support across all sectors of the economy. An allocation of €50 million was made in Budget 2021 for the live performance sector. It is intended that the rollout of the funding would include measures that will build on grant schemes launched under the July stimulus, such as the pilot Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS) and the Music Industry Support Package. Wedding Bands were not excluded from music grants in 2020 and some Wedding Band members obtained work under the LPSS. In the meantime, officials have gained valuable insights from these schemes and will apply these learnings when allocating funding this year. Other measures are also under consideration including those which have emerged from engagement with the sector and with stakeholders.
This engagement is ongoing and included recent meetings between officials of my Department and the Wedding Bands Association. Further details and decisions will be announced shortly.