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Culture Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2021

Wednesday, 5 May 2021

Questions (266, 271)

Alan Farrell

Question:

266. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of her plans in facilitating Culture Night 2021; the supports that will be available to organisations that will be involved in the events; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23287/21]

View answer

Alan Farrell

Question:

271. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the supports her Department is considering for cultural organisations when Ireland emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23292/21]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 266 and 271 together.

Culture Night is an annual, public event that celebrates culture, creativity and the arts. This year, the sixteenth edition of Culture Night will take place on Friday 17th September 2021. Culture Night has grown from a relatively small-scale cultural event in Dublin in 2006, to the significant national cultural event it is now, with some 400,000 people visiting museums, galleries, historic houses, artists’ studios and cultural centres across the island in 2019. Culture Night became a national event from 2008 onward. In 2020, responsibility for steering and funding Culture Night on a national level was transferred from my Department to the Arts Council.

Thanks to the support of the Arts Council and local authorities, all activities are made available to the public free of charge. Details of the 2021 Culture Night programme are available on the Culture Night website https://culturenight.ie/.

Primary support for the arts is delivered through the Arts Council which is a statutory agency under the Arts Act 2003. Funding for the Arts Council has increased steadily in recent years, reaching €130 million in 2021. A wide range of arts organisations are supported by the Arts Council by way of grants under a range of categories including Bursary, Strategic Funding, Project Awards and Touring and Dissemination awards. Under the Arts Act, the Arts Council is independent in its funding decisions.

Supports from the Arts Council are in addition to the wide range of non-sector specific horizontal supports available for businesses and individuals impacted by COVID-19. The Government's response to the impact of the pandemic on the economy is comprised of a broad range of supports delivered across a range of Departments. Along with the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, there are a number of enterprise supports including the COVID-19 Restrictions Support Scheme and the Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID-19. Information in relation to the business and financial supports provided by the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Employment place for businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis can be viewed at the following link: https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/COVID-19-supports.

The Government’s COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 - The Path Ahead plan sets out the Government’s objectives for the full recovery of social life, public services and the economy. The plan committed to the development of sectoral guidance for very large purpose built event facilities, for example: stadia, auditoriums, conference or event centres. I established the Return to Live Entertainment Working Group to facilitate stakeholder consultation and develop COVID-19 Guidelines for the Live Entertainment sector. The Group includes stakeholders from across the live entertainment sector as well and those with appropriate technical knowledge in the planning, management and delivery of events. The Group will produce a set of overarching guiding principles that all venue promotors can adopt for their specific purposes. It is chaired by my Department and had its first meeting on 21 April 2021. The Return to Live Entertainment Working Group includes stakeholders with appropriate technical knowledge in the planning, management and delivery of events and is will produce a set of overarching guiding principles which all venue promotors can adopt for their specific purposes.

The Arts Council and Fáilte Ireland entered into a strategic partnership in order to develop guidance for the safe presentation of festivals and live events. This document is currently at the consultation stage and is due to be published in the coming weeks. While the timeframe for the resumption of entertainment events is dependent on public health considerations, it is critical that a set of COVID-19 guidelines is developed and ready in advance of the re-opening of the sector.

I recently announced the allocation of a €50 million suite of additional measures to further support the Live Entertainment Sector this year. As part of this suite, an allocation of €14m will be made available for the Music and Entertainment Business Assistance Scheme (MEBAS) to make a contribution to the overheads of businesses, specifically musicians and related crew, that have been significantly negatively affected by COVID-19 and that do not qualify for other business supports.

The new scheme will see support offered by way of two levels of flat payments of:-

- €2,500 for businesses with a VAT-exclusive turnover of €20,000 - €100,000;

- €5,000 for businesses with a VAT-exclusive turnover in excess of €100,000.

Supports provided to sectors that are impacted by COVID-19 are kept under review.

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