Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Comhghairdeas le Maggie Farrelly on being the first woman ever to referee a county final. As the Chairman said, it is shocking that she is the first despite it being 2021. We have a long way to go. Maggie has definitely played her part. As the Chairman knows, young girls cannot aim to be what they cannot see. Maggie will definitely inspire young girls to referee in the future. The members should rest assured that the Minister of State and I are absolutely determined to increase the participation of women in all areas of sport, as the Minister of State has outlined in so many ways. We are committed to that.

With regard to eligibility for the basic income, a lot depends on the engagement on 8 December at the global café-style event. We are considering the possibility of having two streams, one being for professional artists, most likely based on membership of a resource body such as Visual Artists Ireland or Dance Ireland. That stream would also include emerging artists to ensure developing artists are given the opportunity to develop their creative practice. There would be a second stream for those working in the arts sector who have a creative input into the final output of an artist's practice, such as screenwriters, directors and costume designers. We are considering this. Participation will not be based on a means test; it will be a non-competitive process. We will have a control group, a meaningful number of unsuccessful applicants, so we can capture the important data and determine the impact on both unsuccessful and successful applicants, creative output and artists' well-being. A tender has been issued for a partner to develop the online application portal. Maybe that is what the Chairman was referring to. The key date in the basic income guarantee pilot is 8 December. All the artists issued with invites will get to help to shape the scheme.

With regard to Creative Ireland, together with the Department of Education, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Arts Council, the programme has seen investment of approximately €13.4 million in the Creative Youth initiative since 2017, with a further €6.8 million in 2021. That will considerably enhance children's and young people's access to creative activities. Three additional education and training, ETB, initiatives are being advanced in Cork, Galway–Roscommon and Mayo–Sligo–Leitrim. The ETBs have been really brilliant at targeting the disadvantaged

Responsibility for the decisions on the local Creative Youth partnerships lies mostly with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. A total of 651 schools have chosen to participate in the Creative Schools programme since its introduction, and a further 299 schools have been chosen to participate in the Creative Clusters initiative of the Department of Education. The current iteration of Creative Ireland is coming to an end and my officials are preparing proposals to extend the programme that I will bring to the Cabinet. Creative Communities, with the local authorities and Creative Ireland, has resulted in incredible work on increasing young people's access to creative opportunities.

It has been and will continue to be a real positive.