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

I thank the Deputy. In the interim, I hope he would know that I announced the successful applicants from the €5 million pilot programme in the July stimulus package. I will roll out €50 million in the new year to help the sector. The amount was increased to €50 million because the €5 million programme received €16.5 million worth of applications. This money will support artists and those working in the live event industry. There is also unprecedented funding of €130 million for the Arts Council.

We have assessed the pilot programme. I met representatives of the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland and the Event Production Industry Covid Working Group in recent weeks to assess the €5 million pilot programme and examine what more we can do to support them and whether improvements can be made. I have secured funding in budget 2021 to do that.

See this speech in context