Mr. Rónán Hession:

I appreciate the Senator's remarks about the work of the Department. He mentioned the costs faced by people in the arts and culture sector. One measure that has been introduced during the pandemic period is an enterprise support grant of €1,000. If somebody is coming off the PUP and works in the entertainment sector, perhaps as a self-employed musician, and if that person needs assistance with costs to get business going again, there is a once-off grant of €1,000, which covers vehicle expenses. That may be of interest to those the Senator has spoken to, and I am certainly happy to send him on the details of that. We provided for about €12 million for the grant for this year and the recent budget extended that into next year. Thus far, about 7,000 people have applied, at a cost of about €6.5 million. People are using it and it is helping those in a self-employed position, including in the arts and culture sector, to get back to work and recover some of those costs.