Mr. Shane Dunne:

On that point, we are hearing from many of the sole traders in particular. People who are stage technicians, lighting designers, safety officers, event controllers, etc., have had considerable difficulty with the scheme. Much of that goes back to the fact that they were not working in January and February. They have had many problems with it and there has been some pinging around of contacts within the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. I think it is starting to fix itself but it has taken some time.

To go back to an earlier question from the Deputy with regard to the funding already allocated and how it would go into the wider industry, the Arts Council is unapologetic in representing creators and artists, and it is right. That is what it does and does well but to go back to the earlier point, let us consider a large-scale outdoor show, be it in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Pearse Stadium, Croke Park or the RDS, or even a 3Arena show, with four or five artists and creators on that stage and 1,000 or 2,000 staff - there are 4,000 staff at Electric Picnic. With the greatest of respect, and I genuinely mean that, Arts Council funding will only touch a fraction of those people. That is what the Event Industry Association of Ireland and we in EPIC are talking about. We are not asking that the Government not fund the Arts Council. In fact, it should give it more. The Arts Council does a fantastic job and is grossly underfunded. We are saying that the wider industry, the non-funded sector, all the staff and all the SMEs associated with that, need a raft of supports to survive over the next six, eight, nine, ten and 12 months.