Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am provoked by Deputy Gannon's reference to the venue we are in. It is a nice venue but if one was trying to do an artistic evocation of the weirdness, surreality and alien character of the impact of the pandemic on Irish society, one could do worse than start with an image of this place, with Deputies sitting miles away from each other in this weird environment. Having said that, it is better that democracy continues to function, even in a slightly weird environment.

It is democracy, in the broadest sense, that has produced the additional €25 million funding for the arts. That has come about as a result of the agitation of the arts and cultural community who made their voices heard. Those voices were then expressed in a Dáil debate and at the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. The National Campaign for the Arts and many of the arts workers, crew and groups like EPIC and many others have made their voices heard and reminded us about the value and importance of our arts. That has been even clearer than ever during the pandemic because it is unimaginable to try and think what the past six months would have been like without music, literature, films, books and all the results of talent and creativity. At this moment when we need arts, culture and music the most, there is an existential threat to the people who make that art, including the artists and performers but also the crew members who stand behind them and make those productions happen.

As Deputy Gannon and others have already stated, the €25 million is a start but is not nearly enough. That is only one of the 13 requests of the National Campaign for the Arts. It does not really touch the crew members who work in live music and entertainment at all. They need commitments that there is going to be additional support and funding for all of those who produce music, live entertainment, art and culture.

The key demand that unites them all is the appeal that the income supports will continue until there is a full recovery in the industry. There is no foreseeable moment of recovery for music, live entertainment, the arts, theatres or gigs. We have no idea when that will happen and the Government needs to sustain crew members who have the necessary skills, artists and performers. Critical to doing this is continuing, in some form, an income subsidy. It does not have to be an unemployment payment. These artists and crew members want to do what work they can but there will not be enough work available for them to make a sustainable living, and we should remember that most of them were struggling to earn a sustainable living even before Covid-19. Now more than ever, those people need an income support that will give them a baseline of a dignified living income but beyond which they can also do what work they can in the period ahead. I appeal to the Minister to address that matter. It is the key request and must materialise in the July stimulus package.

It is not a good start to dealing with these issues that thousands of arts workers had their payments cut yesterday. That is really kicking people when they are down rather than supporting them when they need it. The incomes of many musicians and artists were hit because the manner in which the pandemic unemployment payment was cut failed to take into account the episodic and precarious nature of the employment of many in the arts, culture and entertainment sector. Therefore, many of those people saw their incomes cut yesterday. There is no alternative for them to simply go out and make work for themselves to increase their incomes. How will they pay their bills, rent and childcare costs when they simply do not have the money? The Government made the situation worse by cutting the payment yesterday. We need those income supports to be restored and maintained, and additional supports to be put in place, until the arts, entertainment and music sectors recover.

Reference was made to the Irish Film Workers Association, many members of which live around the corner from here on Sheriff Street. Representatives of the association came before the Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht two years ago and have been blacklisted by the industry since because they raised issues about health and safety, pay and conditions, and direct employment in the film industry. Many of them have not worked in the film industry since. There is a big difference when one compares the film industry with all the other areas that the Minister is supporting with this Revised Estimate. When we give money to galleries, museums and theatres, people get jobs. Therefore, most of those people, during the past six months, have been on the wage subsidy scheme. The Government policy was to give the wage subsidy scheme in order to maintain the relationship between employer and employee. There are employees in museums and theatres but there are none in the film industry. Producers can access funding of €20 million that the Government gives to Screen Ireland and also receive money through the relief provided under section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which amounts to approximately €100 million, and yet nobody in the industry has a job. Everybody who was working in Ardmore Studios, Troy Studios and Ashford Studios was sacked on 12 March. Those people were not put on the wage subsidy scheme, they were sacked. There was no consultation with the workers and front-line people whatsoever in the development of the guidelines to reopen the industry. All the money goes to a group of producers and, as a result, we do not actually have a national film infrastructure and nobody has a job. That needs to be examined.

I repeat the appeal that the Minister needs to meet all stakeholders and insist that they come to a forum on the film industry, as was recommended by the all-party Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht two years ago, but which certain stakeholders simply refused to attend. I do not think that such people should continue to get funding if they refuse a request from an all-party Oireachtas committee to come to a stakeholder forum and resolve the difficulties and disputes that exist in the Irish film industry. I appeal to the Minister on that front.

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