Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make it clear in the House again, because sometimes there is misinformation relating to artists and musicians, that I do not expect artists or musicians to retrain or to reskill. I wish to make that clear because I have been misquoted here before, not by the Deputy but by others. All my Department is doing is making people on the PUP aware of the various supports available to them. The Deputy mentioned people on the PUP. I have worked very closely with them. They can earn up to €960 over an eight-week period and still maintain their payments. I am also working very closely with the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, on a basic income guarantee scheme for artists. That is something we want to introduce. We have worked with the sector. There is the part-time job incentive scheme for people who come off the PUP, so maybe the people to whom the Deputy refers could look at that scheme. There are a number of schemes available, but I cannot introduce sector-specific social welfare schemes. I will just be straight up about that. It is not possible. In fairness, though, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has put a lot of supports and a lot of investment into the music and entertainment sector.

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