Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for their presentations and I hope that all can hear me. I have three themed areas and I will run through them; our guests can come back to me with questions or answers on any of them.

Proposals have been made over the years on having a night mayor for Dublin. Said quickly this sounds like nightmare as in dreams, but I am talking of a night mayor. Do our guests believe that this would be of value to their sector and that it would be feasible to have one in smaller cities?

Second, our guests have referred to the number of people who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19’s impact on the sector and the reality of how many will possibly continue to not have a job in the future. Do our guests believe that the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, or the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, helped their employers as much as they would have liked? Are there any discussions in their sector around the need to formalise employment practices so as to protect workers? I understand the nature of the sector and how it works but there were many people who found themselves falling between the stools of being able to access supports.

Finally, there are opinions and discussions around the introduction of universal basic income, UBI, for the arts sector. Do our guests believe that something like this should be extended to skilled workers in the entertainment industry who are essential for the delivery of arts events? I understand that within the sector, having worked in it, employment is not as regular as in other sectors which is one of the reasons there is discussion around UBI. Do our guests consider that something like this should be considered or extended for skilled workers in the entertainment industry?