Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will start with Deputy Paul Murphy's questions. If I leave any answers out, he can remind me.

The Deputy talked about income supports in general. From a reality check perspective, I mentioned earlier that 1.1 million people in the country are in receipt of social welfare benefits and 212,000 people are receiving €203 a week. At the end of April, there were 213,000 people on the live register. The amount of people receiving the pandemic unemployment payment in Ireland at the moment is 585,000, at a cost of €206 million.

So far, the State has spent €908 million on the wage subsidy scheme. Some 53,600 employers and 460,000 employees have availed of that scheme. Of the total number in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment, 14,000 people from the arts sector have availed of it according to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Those working in the arts are getting the supports required from the Government. After workers from the accommodation, construction, administration and retail sectors, the arts has the highest share of people claiming the pandemic unemployment payment. It is a higher level of support than in Northern Ireland, where the payment is only €100 per week. Our payment is significantly higher.

As I said earlier, we are broadly in line with the European average. We are spending more than the UK and Germany. The UK has reallocated national lottery project grants from a development fund. The reality is that most of the money it is spending has been repurposed and was already in the 2020 budget. In Ireland, €25 million in funding was made available in March to the Arts Council to ensure that funding would get to artists affected by Covid-19. That is significant. As mentioned earlier, there is a huge deficit.

My Department's Vote has increased by 23% since 2017. I have significantly increased funding for the arts since I took office two and a half years ago. If I have the opportunity to remain in this office, I will continue to do that and will fight hard for the sector. Deputy Boyd Barrett is right. The world would not have been a good place over the past number of weeks if we did not have music, the arts and everything else to sustain us. If anything, that will give a loud signal to everybody. I am pleased that people can at least avail of the supports that are in place.

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