Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of very quick observations. First, I sincerely congratulate the Minister on getting the basic income for the pilot relating to artists. This scheme is truly groundbreaking and will set our country apart in terms of how we value art and those who create it. I echo the concerns, which the Minister addressed comprehensively, about how the basic income for the arts, BIA, payment might impact on people with disabilities who are in the arts sector. I know there is an ongoing engagement happening between the Minister and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. I ask that would continue during the pilot . At the conclusion of the pilot, we will have a scheme that works very well for everybody who wants to participate in the creation of art in Ireland.

Second, I thank the Minister for her extraordinary work during the pandemic in putting the live performance support scheme in place and for the significant collaboration that happened with local authorities and with practitioners in the industry. Those same practitioners are finding their way back to work, albeit very slowly in some cases. They are asking for us, as legislators, to consider looking at the reduction of the VAT that applies to many people in that industry. I know there is an ongoing engagement with the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe, with a view towards having that looked at under our national tax strategy. I would ask the Minister if she could perhaps make her feelings known as well. Again, we are getting very conflicting information from various quarters as to whether this is possible or not from an EU VAT legislation perspective. However, if it is, I ask the same sort of supports that have been extended to those in the hospitality industry also be extended to those in the arts industry, especially our musicians, entertainers and technicians.

On tourism, there is one point I want to make. I make this point whenever I have the opportunity. I refer to the much maligned Airbnb. We need to look at how this platform and those similar to it can impact on the supply of housing in locations that have a very significant challenge around supply. I live in a small, rural community in east Galway. I live in what Fáilte Ireland beautifully coined as the Hidden Heartlands, which I think is wonderful. For us in that small community, Airbnb has been truly a game changer in terms of how we market ourselves to the world, for families who are willing to welcome travellers from all over the world into our small, rural, east Galway community and how we market the very interesting activities that one can partake of in those communities. That is replicated across the whole of the Hidden Heartlands in that there is a challenge around hotel rooms in many parts of it. Airbnb and other platforms like it have given those less-visited locations an opportunity to market themselves to the world. On foot of that, we need to be careful in how we move forward in regulating Airbnb and other industries or platforms like it. We do not throw the baby out with the bathwater and deny an opportunity for particularly rural and remote locations to have people visiting them.

I live beside a very successful forest walk that was developed by our local community in conjunction with Coillte. With the advent of Airbnb, certainly before the pandemic, I, for the first time, met people visiting there from Germany, Scotland, Italy and France.

They were all staying in local Airbnbs, an opportunity they did not have prior to the advent of that platform. That is something of which we need to be mindful.

I thank the Minister for the additional funding for the extraordinary work of TG4. I acknowledge the quality of the content emanating from that station and the work it does to connect with Irish communities worldwide. The TG4 player is used extensively abroad by people who are trying to learn the language and also by people who are anxious to have a deeper understanding of Irish culture, the Irish people and our beautiful island. TG4 is doing valuable work in throwing open a window to the world on what it means to be Irish and to live on this beautiful island. I thank the Minister for her support for it.

Turning to the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, I congratulate him on his work on seeking to ensure increased and more diverse participation in sport. That was very much reflected in the sport capital grants awarded earlier in the year and by those clubs and entities that are ambitious in increasing particularly women’s participation in sport being very well funded and supported. The Minister of State may not have specific information on the development of our velodrome project. We are anxious to see it get under way. New Zealand, which is similar in size to Ireland, has two national indoor velodromes which is beginning to produce very positive results in terms of New Zealand's participation in the sport of cycling from the grassroots up and success at international cycling competitions with wins and medals awarded. It is beginning to have an impact. Something similar could happen in Ireland as soon as we get our national velodrome under way.