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

Of the €50 million that was allocated for a suite of supports for the live entertainment industry, €5 million was allocated for the live performance support scheme, LPSS, strand 2. The Deputy might remember that this was to support pantomimes and seasonal musical theatre, which were brought to a halt due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place in December and January. Of that, grants of €2.6 million have been offered and payments of €1.3 million have been made under the scheme to date.

Up to €20 million has been allocated under strand 3 of the LPSS to support events that were due to be staged in December and January and were curtailed, cancelled or rescheduled due to the restrictions with live performances at 50% capacity and the closing time of 8 p.m. Grants of €7.7 million have been offered and payments of €1.1 million have been made under the scheme to date.

Applications are being assessed on a rolling basis and grantees are advised of the status of their grants as soon as a decision is made. The payments are being made and issued on a rolling basis once grantees have supplied the Department with the required documentation. There is, therefore, ongoing liaison with my officials.

There was €4 million allocated for another round of the music and entertainment business assistance scheme to support small music and entertainment businesses that do not operate out of a rateable premises. Some 642 applicants have received funding of €2.8 million. To date, €2.3 million has been awarded and payments of more than €900,000 have been made since the scheme closed on 27 February.

There was €5 million allocated for local authorities under the live performance support scheme to support local artists and performances. A further €5 million was allocated to continue the capital support scheme, for example to help venues that might need ventilation upgrades or other Covid-19 adaptations. There was €1 million for the St. Patrick's festival. Yesterday, the live performance restart grant scheme was announced, which is a new scheme for businesses engaged in staging events in the arts and cultural live performance sector.

We will continually assess what money goes out but that money will go where it needs to go, which is to the artists. As I said, that is through constant liaison with officials linking in with artists if further information is needed. It will go where it is meant to go, however, which is to support the artists.