Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I might as well finish off. Deputy Doherty makes a very valid point in relation to the need to support the arts and festivals in the regions. To be fair to him, he excludes Croke Park and the bigger gigs in Dublin, which are selling out very fast and do not need any support. The reason this measure in relation to the 9% and 13.5% VAT was introduced specifically for the hospitality sector was because it is labour intensive. It was about supporting jobs in the region. We cannot use this measure to support every sector that may be experiencing difficulty, but there are other grants available and other supports that are available through the Arts Council. There are grants through three different strands of €10,000, between €10,000 and €25,000, and between €25,000 and €45,000. They are annual grants that are available to festivals, and they actually prioritise festivals in the regions and where there are not other artistic opportunities available. For that specific reason, it is not intended to accept the Deputy's amendment.

To be fair to Deputy O'Callaghan, he did not rehash the points he made earlier and simply sought that we would look to prepare a special report at some stage in six months' time. I will make the point that taxation measures are always kept under review. There are annual reports, such as the tax strategy papers, which are published every summer, which feed into Government decisions in terms of what it is going to do in relation to taxation measures in the subsequent budgets. Employment levels will be assessed using the reports that are prepared on an annual basis as a matter of course. For that reason, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, does not intend to commit additional resources to prepare a specific report because, to be fair, employment levels across the different sectors are captured in many of the reports that are prepared currently by the Department of Finance. For that reason, we do not intend to accept the Deputy's amendment.