Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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That would be positive. It is worth considering.

It was brought to our attention that there is a slight anomaly in the new scheme that is being piloted. By the way, the artists' support scheme is really fantastic. It is progressive and very innovative.

One of the issues that has been brought to the committee's attention – the Minister may have received correspondence on it – is the fact that artists with disabilities have to choose between the disability payment or their new payment. There may be linked payments and benefits that come with retaining the disability payment that would be lost otherwise. This does not affect a significant number of artists but at the same time it is something that warrants investigation. Perhaps at some stage if the Minister is in Monaghan she could sit down with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, and see if they could iron something out. It would be a help and it has been something that the committee has acknowledged is unfortunate and could be addressed.