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

Go raibh míle maith agat a Chathaoirligh. Tá an-áthas orm fáiltiú ar ais roimh an gcoiste chun tosaíochtaí straitéiseacha na Roinne a phlé. The Minister of State and I are delighted to have the opportunity to speak to the committee on strategic priorities for tourism, culture, arts, sport and media. The Joint Committee on the Irish Language, Gaeltacht and the Irish-speaking Community will address Gaeltacht priorities.

Last November when my Department's sectors were among those most seriously affected by the Covid-19 crisis, I spoke to the committee about my priorities and the vital importance of these sectors to Irish society, our individual and community well-being and our national economy. I am very pleased we are now in a position to enjoy the safe and successful reopening of our society. With it, our tourism sector looks forward to a busy summer season ahead. I am also delighted to see audiences back at arts, culture and event venues and I welcome the full return of fans to our sports grounds. Notwithstanding this, I am aware that there are factors casting a shadow over the recovery, not least the devastating war in Ukraine as well as rising inflation in our economy and internationally.

A key priority has been to continue supports for these critical sectors, which employ hundreds of thousands of people, so that they can stabilise and generate economic activity as we move further along the road to recovery. I draw the committee’s attention to a number of important developments in relation to these sectors. This year, for tourism, I have allocated an increase of €67.6 million, or 31%, on the comparable 2021 allocation. The increased funding will facilitate a further €50 million provision to assist vulnerable tourism businesses to survive until inbound tourism recovers. There is a €35 million increase in the tourism marketing fund in 2022 to support marketing strategy and restore inbound tourism to Ireland. Further to the economic recovery plan published last year, the Government decided to extend the VAT rate reduction to the end of February 2023. This extension covers the same goods and services as the original measure, including restaurant supplies, tourist accommodation, cinemas, theatres and museums.

I was pleased to announce details of a €50 million suite of measures to support the live performance sector in 2022. This included a further strand of the live performance supports scheme as well as the €15 million live performance restart grant scheme, which opened for applications in March. The Arts Council provides the vital investment needed to protect artists' livelihoods, support arts organisations, develop audiences and nurture young people’s engagement with and appreciation of the arts. Maintaining the record €130 million allocation for 2022 allows the Arts Council to fund events and festivals in across Ireland while nurturing excellence. From the earliest days of the pandemic, the dramatic realisation of the true intrinsic value of the arts provides an imperative for maintaining funding to the arts. With regard to my Department's capital programme, the programme for Government makes strong commitments for continued capital investment in our national cultural, sporting, language and tourism infrastructure.

Ireland's tourism sector is of significant value to the economy and benefits regional development. Recruitment continues to be a significant challenge for the tourism sector with up to two thirds of businesses reporting reduced capacity due to staff shortages. The Department and Fáilte Ireland are continuing to collaborate with industry and other Departments to ensure there is a co-ordinated approach to addressing labour and skills shortages.

I am continuing to liaise with the recovery oversight group in respect of the tourism recovery plan and issues affecting the sector. Work is also ongoing on the development of a national tourism policy that will set out the path over the coming years and ensure that sustainability is at the heart of recovery in the sector. This policy will be underpinned by a programme of capital investment which includes investment in activity-based tourism.

There has been much recent discussion about the costs and availability of key components of the tourism sector, such as hotels and car rental. While I recognise that businesses in the sector are grappling with increased input costs and that increased demand leads to an increase in prices, it is essential that all businesses in the sector are mindful of the need for Ireland to maintain its value-for-money proposition as a tourism destination.

Evidence of excessive charges and prices for tourists, both domestic and overseas, has the potential to cause reputational damage for Ireland. Furthermore, any negative impact could derail the positive recovery in that sector. We must work together to ensure that our céad míle fáilte and good value continues. The tourism recovery must be sustained and sustainable.

With the climate emergency as our backdrop, the future we imagine is one that will bring tourists and tourism businesses on a journey towards a sustainable model that embeds and protects our environment, local communities, natural heritage and beauty. Last year, the arts and culture recovery task force submitted its report, Life Worth Living, which outlined ten recommendations to support the recovery of these sectors. We have made significant progress on implementing the report.

I was especially pleased to announce €25 million in budget 2022 for the pilot basic income guarantee scheme as part of budget 2022, as part of the three-year pilot’s investment of €105 million. Applications closed on the 12 May with close to 9,000 applications received. Under this scheme 2,000 artists and creative arts workers will be provided with €325 per week for three years. I hope this scheme can bring new life and support to the arts and culture sector and that it will provide an important legacy for our artists.

In February, Government also agreed in principle that the Creative Ireland programme will continue for a further five years to encompass the period 2023 to 2027 and will focus on the following pillars: creative youth; creative communities; creative industries; creative health and well-being and creative climate action and sustainability.

The report of the night-time economy task force was published in 2021 and contained a number of practical recommendations to help support and sustain the night-time economy, with some pilot measures to support new developments in this area. A robust implementation structure has been agreed to ensure that the recommendations are implemented, which has the flexibility to react to new ideas and developments as work progresses.

In tandem with these developments, we continue to commemorate in a meaningful and respectful way, the events that shaped the foundation of the state, as part of the decade of centenaries programme. The all-party committee, which I established to contribute to the commemorations programme, is working proactively with me as we come to the closing years of the centenary commemorations, with a number of significant events scheduled over the coming years.

It is a priority of my Department to address the future of broadcasting and media in this country and safeguard the availability of quality, informed and trusted sources of news and content. Some examples from budget 2022 to support this sector include the additional €4.2 million funding I secured for TG4 for 2022, which was the largest ever annual increase in TG4 funding, and the €5.5 million allocated for the establishment of the coimisiún na meán.

I was glad also to be in a position to provide increased funding to the sound and vision scheme which will be allocated this year, to support the production of high quality television and radio content, including a special round to address climate action and climate change. With regard to the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, I also thank the committee for the publication of a comprehensive pre-legislative scrutiny report with regard to the general scheme of the Bill.

The 33 recommendations contained in the report raise a wide range of important issues and highlight the scale and complexity of the matters to be addressed in the Bill. To address one of the key recommendations of the report, I established an expert group to examine the possibility of providing for an individual complaints mechanism in the Bill. I have now received the report of the group and am considering its recommendations. It is a priority to ensure swift progress of the Bill through the legislative process, with a view to having it enacted as soon as possible. While this is subject to the scheduling of each stage of the legislative process in each House of the Oireachtas, I will urge all Members to work closely with me to expedite its passage, especially against the backdrop of infringement proceedings which are being taken against Ireland in respect of the transposition of the audiovisual media services directive. The enactment of the legislation, without delay, is critical to avoiding significant penalties.

In parallel with the passage of the legislation, my Department is working with the Public Appointments Service with a view to shortly commencing an executive search for the key roles in coimisiún na meán including that of online safety commissioner. The establishment of an coimisiún will provide the regulatory and developmental framework to allow me to implement many of the recommendations in the report of the Future of Media Commission, which will be brought to Government shortly. I am sure committee members will agree that all of these measures are critical. I look forward to ongoing cross-party engagement on this important agenda, where I envisage we will require a rolling suite of legislation to address the effective regulation of this hugely important and influential sector.

Tourism, culture, arts, our language, sport and media are fundamental to our society, identity, well-being and our democracy. As Minister, I will continue to advocate strongly for these sectors as we emerge from a very difficult period. I am happy to take any questions members may have. Is cúis mhór áthais dom deis a fháil labhairt leis an gcoiste inniu.