Mr. Shane Dunne:

There is no doubt that the people, the teams and the relationships the Deputy refers to are what I describe as my summer family, that is, the people I see from only April to September. I do not have to read stories to them but we work together. Just because somebody is the stage manager on the main stage at Electric Picnic does not mean that he or she does not spend a portion of the rest of the year in the Abbey Theatre or the Gate Theatre. This is an industry where we all work together. People who pop up on television sets then pop up at outdoor shows a couple of weeks later. The problem we have at the moment is that the entire industry has stopped.

The Deputy is fully correct that these groupings, companies and SMEs will be lost and broken up. Those relationships, events and businesses will not come back unless there is a raft of supports such as those requested from the NCFA, the Event Industry Association of Ireland and us at EPIC. We need the bulk of those supports to come through immediately. As Ms Dorgan said, it needs to come through in the July stimulus package. It is not something we can wait for until the depths of winter. When that comes, it will be too late.