Mr. Liam Fitzgerald:

I am grateful for the opportunity to give evidence today regarding the plight of our industry. EPIC is a working group of independently elected representatives from the live production sector and is a foundation member of the wider industry grouping, the Event Industry Alliance. EPIC includes representatives from the Association of Irish Stage Technicians and the Live Venue Collective. Hence, we speak here today for a very wide range of organisations, companies and individuals throughout all facets of the live event and entertainment industry.

As the pandemic enters its second year, venues, promoters and businesses have spent their cash reserves surviving 2020, topping up salaries and meeting fixed business costs such as rent, insurance, building maintenance, security and utilities, all against a backdrop of having little or no turnover to fund such expenditure. We have seen some successes from supports, such as the LPSS, and with the extension of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, helping to maintain as many of our workers as possible. However, there have also been large parts of our sector left behind, such as our supplier SMEs, of which only 4% are eligible to access the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS. We are at present engaging with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and hope to swiftly bring forward supports for those who have been neglected so far.

In addition to the financial effects of the past year, it has been very challenging mentally for those working in the industry. The lack of clarity about the road out of this crisis is compounding those effects on the mental health and well-being of the workers in our industry. We are grateful for the support shown to Minding Creative Minds and hope it will be long-lived.

Looking forward, there are many hurdles still to navigate as we contemplate the reopening of live events over the coming months. One of the most important concepts for us to convey is the potential for lag in our industry reopening. Over the cycle of planning, marketing, selling tickets, rehearsing and building, the time from the proverbial gates opening for our industry to meaningful income for our workers and SMEs will be between six months and year. It is vital that the planning starts in earnest as soon as possible.

It is of the highest urgency and importance to swiftly form an expert working group, as put forward in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media task force recommendations, with key experienced stakeholders around the table, to develop the criteria, mechanisms, supports and timeframe in parallel with Government policy and the roll-out of the vaccination programme. Advancing a sector-specific, strategic roadmap, developed in partnership with the various Departments, the HSE and relevant authorities to ensure the safe reopening and operation of venues and events, will enable us to put thousands of people back to work across all levels of the sector, but we need to start the months of planning now.

We know that no one has a crystal ball and that no one can tell us right now the exact date we will be reopening again. However, we need a series of mile markers from health experts showing us, for example, that when X% of adults are vaccinated, we can do such a scale of an event, and when Y% are vaccinated, the events can advance up to another level.

To be clear, we are not looking, and never will try, to open when it is not safe to do so. Our industry's fundamental core value is taking care of our audiences and staff. Every decision we make every day when we are planning and executing an event is about safety, welfare and enjoyment of our attendees. We are looking to open when it is safe to do so but we need mile markers to allow us to build towards this so that the lag between it being possible to open and being actually able to open is as short as possible.

We are an integral part of the cultural fabric of society. The live entertainment industry is an ecosystem and all of its aspects are needed for it to survive: the talent of the artists, the venue for the promoter, and the contractors and crew to pull it all together. For every €1 spent on a ticket in Ireland, €6 is spent as a result in the wider hospitality and tourism sector. It is vital to the economy. Live events were responsible for €3.2 million bed nights in one year recently.

Without the assurance of sufficient supports until the sector fully recovers, and with the delay in activating the expert working group, some of Ireland's most iconic and live entertainment venues and promoters will be forced to implement plans to shut down entirely or for the foreseeable, long-term future, and to implement extensive lay-offs. This is an industry of entrepreneurs and businesses who have forged their own path. They are highly skilled and dedicated people who have invested their own time and money to create events and experiences to allow others to make memories that will last a lifetime. This was a thriving industry prior to Covid and it will be again. We need a hand up now, not a handout, until it is safe for the industry to open at full capacity. We need some help now so that, in turn, we can drive the rebirth of our economy by recovering the spirit and optimism of the nation. I thank members for their attention.