Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am so used to standing up here. We do not stand up in committees. The time is tight, unfortunately, and there are many things I would like to raise. I will try to keep my questions short. We will try to keep the replies short to get in as much as we can.

Can the events industry representatives confirm that the sector is not generally State subsidised and that it now requires urgent assistance? Is it correct that reform and refinement of the pandemic unemployment payment and the temporary wage subsidy scheme are urgent? Does the sector need to deal with the seasonal work issue and the part-time work issue as work begins to become available slowly? Does the payment need to be continued at least until next summer as a first step? The events industry will certainly not get going until next March at the earliest. That is the first question.

The second question relates to talk about an industry task force. I take it this is important. When should it report so that steps can actually be taken on foot of a report to save the arts and events industry?

How big are rates and rents as overheads? How important would the waiver of rates be in particular? The restart grant is limited to €10,000. Many arts and events industry players are paying more than €10,000 per year. Is this too low a cap on the rates rebate for 2019?