Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I do not doubt for a second that the Minister is endeavouring to be as fair as possible but are we being as fluid or as malleable as possible in terms of protecting particular sectors? The live events sector is more vulnerable than most, which is why the calls for the increase in the pandemic unemployment payment to be particularly targeted at sectors such as this one are very important.

In addition to my question about fairness, parts of the performing arts have access to funding from the Arts Council and other forms of funding. The live events sector does not have access to that funding but these sectors are interdependent. It is not fair that one element of the performing arts can access funding through the Arts Council, yet an industry on which the arts are totally reliant - the live entertainment sector and the stage managers and others who make live entertainment possible - is excluded from that funding. I fully appreciate that the Minister is endeavouring to be fair but we can do a little better in terms of being malleable.

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