Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending this meeting. The arts are a particular grá of mine, having spent some time in them before taking to the political stage. It is great to have the witnesses here and to see a national recognition for the sector. During the difficulties with Covid-19 there was a national awakening, as it were, to the value of the arts. That was hard fought for and hard won. I congratulate the national campaign and all the artists and others who were part of it.

It is interesting to reflect on what Ms Dorgan said about the 50% of income. A large number of people would have fallen through the cracks. For many of us who worked in the arts, some 50% of our income came from bar work and cleaning even though we would have spent far more than 50% of our time working in the arts. That brings me to my first question or point. I have in mind the impact of Covid restrictions over the past while and over the next year on creative development and particularly the early years of people in the dramatic arts or in the creative sector. There is something of a pause, but not a pause everywhere. Does Ms Dorgan have thoughts on the impact Covid will have on the early years career, the play time and the time for development for young practitioners or young artists, and what can be done to deal with that? We talk about flight from the sector, but I am worried about the people who are going to lose the entry level into the sector. I met one of the best lighting technicians I know when she was studying engineering in college. She got involved in it as a side project and went on to study lighting engineering. There is a group of people who, over the next year or so, are potentially going to be lost to that state of play or that entry into the arts world. Has Ms Dorgan any thoughts on that and what can be done about it? That flourishing state of play is important for people in the early years of beginning their careers in the arts.

That brings me to cross-pollination for the arts sector. I would have started the morning in Blackpool teaching children art and theatre, in the afternoon I was doing costumes for a show in the Cork Arts Theatre and in the evening I was in the Granary Theatre doing lighting. That cross-pollination for people in their early careers in the arts is very important for development and flourishing. Does Ms Dorgan have any thoughts on how that will be dealt with over the next year? There is plenty of stuff online and practitioners are doing everything they can, but I am very concerned about the loss of the early years engagement. When people are trying to find their way in their arts careers they do not know exactly what they are doing so they are trying out everything. There is that cross-pollination between different jobs and the issue of how that will happen in the future.

Finally, somebody raised with me the requirement for proof of artistic credentials. This was before the onset of Covid, but it is still relevant. Continuing to have her studio space was put under threat and because she did not have a website she could not prove she was a bona fide artist, even though she had had the studio for 20 years. There was a change in requirements regarding funding and an expansion of proof to prove what type of artist one is. Do the witnesses have any thoughts on that? Fortunately, there is a boon in funding at present, but this onerous requirement to prove oneself as an artist might tie into what an outside perspective of an artist is without necessarily tying into what an artist does. That is a slightly complicated question, somewhat blue-sky thinking, but it arose before the onset of Covid and I suspect it will become more problematic as people are competing for funding. How does one prove oneself as an artist? This requirement to meet certain needs does not necessarily always tie into the way artists live or do things.

Those are my three questions.