Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. That is why I feel task forces are key to this. My engagement with people across my Department brief has shown me that they want to have a say. The arts task force, chaired by Claire Duignan, met for the first time last week and is due to report on 31 October which is obviously post budget. That is why in the first meeting I attended last week I asked it to give me its key priorities before the budget so that I can use that information to feed into my negotiations.

On the tourism recovery task force, that landed on my desk this week and it is key in the budget negotiations. The Government is fully aware that, given the social nature of such gatherings, tourism, arts, and culture were the sectors first affected by the pandemic and may be the last to return to normal. We must find a way to get our performers singing again and help them. Our pilot €5 million live performance support scheme assists that and has worked really well.

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