Mr. Conor Falvey:

Historically, I am not sure the Department had that close a relationship directly with the sector. It tended to be through the agencies, but through the Covid pandemic we had a lot of direct engagement with a wide range of stakeholder groups, both within what might be called the subsidised arts sector and right across into live entertainment and, critically, with the National Campaign for the Arts. That has endured in the period since then, and the Minister met with the National Campaign for the Arts. The primary focus was on options around basic income. Recently he met its representatives on a number of occasions and took the opportunity to reiterate his own commitment directly to them. That filters back out into the arts sector. Again, every week, if not daily, we talk to people across the arts sector about-----