Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Ceist:18. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when she will publish a comprehensive Covid-19 recovery roadmap for the arts. [17292/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 22 July 2020
Ceisteanna (18)
Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)
This question relates to a comprehensive Covid-19 recovery roadmap for the arts and when it will be published. It was one of the first sectors to close down and will probably be one of the last sectors to reopen.
On 19 June the then Government, having considered the expert public health advice provided by the national public health emergency team, approved the rephasing of the Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business. Apart from some exceptions, most sectors were brought forward to phase 3, which began on Monday, 29 June. Museums, galleries, theatres, concert halls and other cultural outlets could reopen from that date but the current restrictions on a maximum of 50 people at indoor gatherings and 200 people at outdoor gatherings have been extended to 10 August. There is no denying that due to social distancing and public confidence issues, the reopening of live performance and entertainment venues will prove challenging. The Government is committed, in the context of budget 2021, to bring forward a national economic plan setting out our long-term approach to restore employment, and detailing how we will secure our public finances in a world where we must live with Covid-19 while driving our efforts to decarbonise the economy and prepare for the next phases of technological transformation.
The programme for Government also commits to establishing a cross-departmental task force to develop a clear approach, informed by the views of all stakeholders, to protect and sustain the arts and culture sector through the Covid-19 recovery and beyond, which in turn will inform the national economic plan. This task force will be established shortly. It will build on additional supports already provided in the form of the increase in Arts Council funding to €100 million this year. The additional €20 million was in line with the recommendations of the expert advisory group to the Arts Council, and of the National Campaign for the Arts' 13 point national arts recovery plan. The additional measures to be announced in the context of the July stimulus will further support employment-intensive activities within the sector. In all of these actions, the Government remains focused on sustaining the arts and culture sector through the challenges posed by Covid-19.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an bhfreagra sin. The return to full employment for the entertainment industry and those involved in artistic endeavour will prove challenging as we go through the phases of the roadmap. In some ways the Minister is asking all of those engaged in that sector of society to wait until the budget or when the task force will be set up at some stage.
Whenever I have had an opportunity, either in the Dáil or at meetings of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, I have asked when the task force will be set up in order that some type of surety will be given to those in the sector in general. Many artists, musicians and those involved in the entertainment business are hanging on by their fingernails. For many of them who have seen their income collapse totally, as have many others in society, there is no possibility of seeing any income before next year. At that stage, they might have moved on to a different industry or they might have left the country.
I thank the Deputy. In the few weeks since I was appointed, I have been concentrating on the July stimulus package to see what supports I can give immediately to the sector, which has been devastated by Covid. In answer to Deputy Duncan Smith's earlier question, I mentioned the commitment in the programme for Government on the night-time economy task force, which will be announced next week. I am working on the art sector task force. In recent months, we have been engaging with a range of stakeholders from throughout the arts and culture sector. Of the €25 million funding, €20 million went to the Arts Council. This is leading to new bursaries and commissions, including supports for freelance artists and those seeking to develop projects on a collaborative basis. I will establish this task force and it is a priority. We have to do it right and engage properly. As I said, the immediate short-term priority for me was the July stimulus package and those supports. I am on the Cabinet sub-committee and I am fighting for it.
I accept that and I have acknowledged most of what the Minister has said already. It is not just the fault of the Minister, particularly as the task force could have been set up by the caretaker Government. It could have been established quite quickly under the new Government but we still have not seen sight of it. One of the problems now emerging, which in a way is under the Minister's brief, is that the Covid payment to many artists and musicians is being cut. Will the Minister have a conversation with the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to explain the nature of artistic endeavour and musicians and the fact that this sector will be the last in society that will return to work and that a cut in the pandemic unemployment payment for those in the sector at this stage is dire and retrograde in the extreme?
I thank the Deputy. As he pointed out, this is a matter for my colleagues at the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and the Department of Finance. As I have said, I am examining a suite of measures to support the arts sector. We have been particularly focused on the very challenging issue of how live performances can be delivered in the context of public health restrictions. Such opportunities will be important for collective well-being but also from an employment perspective. The contribution the arts and culture make to our society has an economic value and also has a value to our well-being as a nation, so it is a priority. As stated, I am examining a suite of measures. This specific measure is a matter for my colleagues at the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and the Department of Finance.