Covid-19 Pandemic Supports Seanad Éireann — 2021-03-05 ============================================================ Marie Sherlock (LAB), Labour Panel I welcome the Minister of State. While we would have loved to have the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, with us, he will convey our message to his Green Party ministerial colleague. As the Minister of State knows, it is almost a year since the arts, culture and live entertainment sectors had to shut down operations. A series of good and positive initiatives have been designed by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to assist them, but this matter relates to the €50 million live entertainment fund announced in budget 2021. We are nearly five months on since that announcement, but I am unclear as to whether we have any additional detail on how the fund will be rolled out and to whom it will apply. While we agree with the Government taking a cautious approach under Covid-19 Resilience & Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead, there should be no excuse for a lack of clarity or full information on this support fund. The essence of a sector such as the live entertainment industry means that it needs time to plan. It also needs confidence in the transparency around how the funding will be allocated. With a degree of horror, we watched the criticisms levelled at the Department last year regarding how the music industry stimulus package was allocated. I am raising this matter in the context of broader concerns for the sector, in particular the stories we are being told time after time by workers and people with small businesses in the live entertainment sector who say they are hanging on by their bare fingertips. Indeed, some people have already exited the sector. Those in the sector still have costs even though they are not operating. They must maintain their insurance because they do not want a break in cover and there are other overheads. Time and again, the response from the Government is to point to the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, and the Covid business aid scheme, CBAS, but many businesses are excluded because those only apply to rateable businesses. I cannot for the life of me fathom why the Government continues with its fixation on rateable businesses. I understand there have to be criteria and that the public finances need to be protected, but I do not understand why the Government, having listened to months of criticism from all of us in the Opposition and within the Government, remains fixated on rateable businesses. There are alternatives. There were 212,007 active VAT traders in the country in 2019. Surely VAT could be the metric, the anchor on which businesses could be targeted for support. In 21st century Ireland, it is not acceptable to suggest that a business has to operate from a premises with a shopfront. Thousands of businesses operate from a back room, which goes back to the issue of rateable businesses. My initial question was on the €50 million fund. It is very welcome but we need to see detail of how and when it will be rolled out, and to whom it will apply. Ossian Smyth (GP), Dún Laoghaire I take the Senator's points about rateable businesses. I will describe the supports targeted specifically at the live entertainment sector and the arts. It is true that not every business will have a premises these days. Covid-19 restrictions continue to have a devastating effect on the live entertainment sector. Restrictions on mass gatherings are necessary to prevent the spread of the virus but have meant that opportunities for live performances in front of an audience have been almost completely restricted over the past year, which has had grave consequences for these sectors. In 2020, the Department provided grant aid to a range of programmes and initiatives to produce much-needed cultural and live entertainment content for audiences throughout the State and abroad. These schemes included the pilot live performance support scheme, LPSS, the music industry support package, MISP, Tradfest, Ireland Performs, Hot Press gigs and Other Voices Courage. These initiatives sought to assist individual musicians, commercial venues, producers and promoters to provide income and employment opportunities for workers in the creative sector. The pilot LPSS awarded €5 million to 59 projects, providing thousands of days of employment to hundreds of musicians, actors, crews and technicians at a time when no other opportunities were available. Artists and supporting roles were employed to do what they do best and provide the general public with much-needed entertainment. Our initiatives have provided a pipeline of exceptionally high-quality livestreamed concerts, as well as pantomimes and theatre productions, which were very well received. They were watched both in Ireland and throughout the world. Irish audiences need to see and experience Irish art. The House may be interested to learn that over the past three months, virtually all new artistic output in Ireland has been generated through public funding, mainly through the Department. In particular, the pilot LPSS provided a much-needed varied and timely benefit to Irish people everywhere. There is strong support for a new LPSS arising from the experience of the pilot and this demand comes from throughout the live entertainment sector. The pilot allowed promoters, venues and producers to innovate and try out new ways of reaching audiences. The new approach has resulted in significant learnings on new successful models, including paid platforms, and this strengthens the live entertainment and performance sector. Other feedback from musicians, artists and producers revealed a powerful well-being benefit to artists and musicians from being given the opportunity to perform live, especially after such a long time, even when the performance was to an empty room. In budget 2021, there is a higher order of magnitude of support than that of last year. It is envisaged that a roll-out of €50 million in allocation will include a grant scheme similar to the live performance support scheme. Other measures are under consideration, including those that emerge from engagement with the sector, stakeholders and the local authorities. The Department has gained valuable insights into the pilot and will apply these learnings as soon as possible when allocating the funding this year. Marie Sherlock (LAB), Labour Panel As I said earlier, I appreciate that much good work has been done in the Department, but I came to the debate to learn something new. Many others have asked about the €50 million fund and, unfortunately, we have not heard any new information. With the greatest respect, I have heard the Minister, Deputy Martin, speak about the lessons that have been learned. The Minister of State mentioned the pay platforms. However, we do not have any additional certainty or clarity for those who hope to apply. It is a very simple question and I think those in the sector deserve simple answers. I appreciate that the Minister of State is here to deliver a message, but I ask him to tell the Department that it is not good enough to send that message into this Chamber and reiterate all the good things that were done last year. We are now in 2021 and we want to hear about progress. It is about looking ahead, not looking back. Ossian Smyth (GP), Dún Laoghaire I thank the Senator. I take her points on board and will convey them to the Minister, Deputy Martin, whom I meet regularly. This year, we are doing something which is ten times larger than what we did last year. I cannot pre-announce what the Minister will announce but I know this issue is very dear to her heart and she is very keen to deliver on her commitments. I draw the attention of the Senator to the Minding Creative Minds well-being and support services. Although the restrictions affect everyone, there is an added source of stress and tension for artists and creatives who are prevented from expressing through their art. In December, the Minister was pleased to announce funding of €230,000 for the expansion of the Minding Creative Minds service to the entire creative sector, both at home and abroad. This innovative 24-7 well-being support programme provides the Irish creative community with access to experienced counsellors and psychotherapists who can offer short-term intervention and advice covering practical day-to-day issues that cause anxiety and stress. This funding comes with the recent recommendation from the arts and culture recovery task force which specifically highlights the need for well-being supports for the sector. I would be grateful if Senators were to highlight this important service in their respective areas. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-03-05/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:07+00:00 Sitting date: 2021-03-05