Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State and commend them on the continuing increases in the budgets in the areas of arts, sport and tourism. I am going to focus my questions on the area of arts, media and culture. The Minister mentioned the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, which is critical legislation. I welcome the fact the Minister is committed to the recruitment of the online safety commissioner. Will she indicate when that recruitment process might start? In the context of the legislation, the Minister will be aware that our committee made a recommendation around an individual complaints mechanism. Can she indicate if, in principle, she is supportive of that and if it will inform part of the legislation? Our committee also recommended the introduction of a content levy on the streaming services to help with the development of production here. Again, the Minister might indicate if she will be supporting our recommendations.

I would be grateful if the Minister could indicate when we will see publication of the report of the Future of Media Commission. She will be aware there is also a vacancy on the RTÉ board after a process that this committee engaged in. She might outline if she intends to fill that vacancy and when she might do it.

I echo the concerns around the entertainment sector and providing the supports for those working in that sector, as well as the Minister’s commitment on the pilot universal basic income, UBI. I hope that a broad a range of artists and arts workers is included when it is introduced. We are obviously talking about everybody from choreographers to set designers. It is a huge area, so that is key.

The Minister mentioned the importance of our theatres, arts venues and galleries for national well-being. They are extremely safe venues. With other members of the committee, I was at a theatre last night and I have been in a number of theatres in Wexford in recent weeks. They were all operating in a very safe way, with Covid certs being checked. I am looking for assurances that there will be no effort to close some of these vital venues in the weeks and months ahead, particularly given these venues have scheduled quite a number of shows well into next year. It is important that assurance is given to try to support those venues. Again, I echo colleagues’ comments around continued support for those in the entertainment sector who are being badly hit. I accept there are quite a few questions.