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

I certainly hope that is true. The arts, music, live entertainment and events sector will be watching closely to see if it is true. While I welcome the fact that an additional €25 million was given in response to campaigning by the National Campaign for the Arts and the Minister alludes to some supports for small businesses in the events sector, some of the signs are not very good. The truth is that the cuts in the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, have already impacted very significantly on many artists, performers, musicians and so on. Some of them did not even get the pandemic payment because they were not working at the time, even though it is obviously an episodic existence where employment and income is concerned, so that was totally unfair. We are getting indications that the Government plans to cut the pandemic payment from €350 to €300, which will further punish people such as artists, performers, crew and so on who are dependent on that. Is the Government going respond to the key call, which is that the income supports should be maintained as a basic income for artists, crew, performers and musicians?

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