Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
319. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will engage with an organisation (details supplied) regarding the delays in the live performance support schemes live venue collective. [11119/22]
View answerMy Department met with stakeholders from the Live Entertainment sector on Friday last the 25th of February where matters such as the dispersal of grants and the ongoing challenges facing the Live Entertainment sector were discussed. Representatives from the organisation referred to by the Deputy attended this forum and had an opportunity to put forward any concerns or queries regarding the Live Performance Support Schemes.
Stakeholder engagement has been central to my Department's response to the pandemic and the Live Entertainment Stakeholder forum was established to ensure that all representative organisations from the sector are given the opportunity to engage with my Departments and to ensure that I am fully appraised of the issues being faced by those in the sector.
I was very cognisant of the challenges the Covid restrictions caused for the arts/culture and live entertainment industry in 2021 and I provided grants of over €55m to support the sector and drive employment opportunities for artists and crews, through the introduction of the following schemes:
- Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS)
- Events Sector Covid Support Scheme (ESCSS)
- Local Live Performance Support Scheme (LLPSS)
- Music and Entertainment Support Scheme (MEBAS)
- Commercial Entertainment Capital Grant Scheme (CECGS)
- Funding for Saint Patrick's Festival
These schemes provided thousands of hours of employment for artists and crews at a time when restrictions were such that there were no employment opportunities. The schemes also provided a pipeline of high quality artistic output.
In 2022 I have put a number of supports in place to support the recovery of the live entertainment sector including the following:
- €5m for the Live Performance Support Scheme Strand 2 – for pantomime and seasonal musical theatre events curtailed or cancelled in December 2021 and January 2022. Grants of €2.6m have also been offered under the LPSS 2 to date;
- €20m for the Live Performance Support Scheme 3 – for events cancelled, curtailed or rescheduled in December 2021 and January 2022. Grants of over €6m have been offered to date under LPSS 3 to date;
- €4m for the 2022 Music and Entertainment Support Scheme (MEBAS). Since it opened four weeks ago over 600 applications have been received seeking funding of €2.8m. Payments under this scheme will began last week;
- €5m for the Local Live Performance Support Fund to provide funding to local authorities to support live events in every county;
- €5m for the Commercial Entertainment Capital Grant Scheme (CECGS), this scheme opened for applications today March 1st .
In relation to a further round of the Live Performance Support Scheme, my Department is currently examining all options for the proposed scheme and I expect to make an announcement shortly on this matter.
