Government allocated €50 million in 2021 to a suite of measures to assist the arts and culture sector. As part of that funding, on Tuesday June 15th I announced the allocations for the €25m Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS 2021). All allocations of funding for arts, culture and entertainment purposes made by my Department are subject to approval by me as Minister.
I was delighted to be in a position to fund 237 successful applications under this scheme, the details of which are available on my Department’s website. There was a very high level of interest in this scheme, with over 400 applications requesting funding in excess of €80 million. Given the available funding of €25 million, difficult decisions had to be made and it was not be possible to award grants to everyone who applied. The 237 grants awarded to the 237 successful individual applicants will help support employment and wellbeing opportunities across all genres and the continued production of high quality artistic output for the public. Details of the successful applicants and their individual projects can be found on my department's website here - www.gov.ie/en/service/ca5d7-live-performance-support-scheme-2021/#list-of-grantees.
All applications were referred to an Evaluation Panel for assessment and recommendations for allocations which were then subject to approval. The Evaluation Panel consisted of five members, independent from the administration area running the scheme, comprised of two departmental officials and three external members. All panel members were required to sign a declaration regarding conflict of interest and confidentiality in relation to this scheme.
The evaluation panel assessed applications and scored under the following headings as outlined in the table below.
Maximum Marks
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Meeting Aims and Objectives of the Scheme - Employment opportunities, Audience strategy, Ensuring ongoing cultural activity in non-subsidised venues
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30
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Track Record - Prior experience, No. of events held, Income generated, other observations
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20
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Feasibility - detailed breakdown of production costs, Completion of budget template, realistic audience targets for live/online, rates of pay in line with industry standards, realistic project timeline
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20
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Contracts of employment for Project- Artists, creative, crew, support staff, - Artists costs as % of production costs
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15
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Other Factors - Flexibility of approach, geographic spread, H&S report, diversity of genres
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10
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Quality of Application
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5
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Total Score
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100
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Officials in my Department are engaging with applicants in relation to queries regarding the outcome of their Live Performance Support Scheme application. Information in relation to the appeals process for this scheme is available on my Department's website here - www.gov.ie/en/service/ca5d7-live-performance-support-scheme-2021/.
