Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom labhairt faoi cheist na hallaí pobail atá dúnta agus nach bhfuil aon ioncam acu in a lán bealaí. Níl aon chuma ar an scéal go bhfuil aon mhaoiniú ag teacht chun déanamh cinnte de go seasfaidh siad an fód agus chun déanamh cinnte de go bhfuil an t-árachas íoctha, go bhfuil íoctha as cúrsaí slándála agus go bhfuil siad in ann athchóirithe a dhéanamh. Bhí na hallaí seo ag brath go huile agus go hiomlán ar choláistí samhraidh in a lán bealaí. Impím ar an Rialtas beart a dhéanamh de réir na hallaí pobail seo.

The other question I want to address is a question that many Deputies have received emails about in recent days. It is on the events industry and the arts in general. It is not good enough to have a deep appreciation for the arts and culture sectors, artists, dancers, actors, musicians and the like as well as the live events industry. All were shut down overnight in March and they still have no date to recommence. It is our job as legislators to protect them and help them chart a way out of the chaos they are in now and that they will face for several months to come. It is not foreseen that most of the venues in this part of Ireland will open in the coming six months. It will be a major job to address the plight of the 35,000 who work in the live events industry as well as the many artists and those who are dependent on live events. Musicians up and down the country are now in such dire straits that they are contemplating selling their musical instruments. They are scraping by and living in sheds or cars. These are the people we need to have a shout-out for. We need the pandemic unemployment payment retained at the maximum for every one of these people. We also need the temporary work support scheme to be reintroduced. The Government changed it to the employment wage subsidy scheme. This needs to be fixed now to ensure this industry or sector of our society is fully protected. It will enable us to rely on them in the future to lighten up our hearts. Many of them have been doing that during the pandemic but we want to see live events in future.

See this speech in context