Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

As the Social Democrats Party's spokesperson on the arts, I warmly thank and congratulate Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this legislation, for championing this and for bringing in comedians today to brief us as a House. As Deputy Ahern has just done, I wish to outline my own comedy connections and why I feel such a connection with this legislation. One of the most important people in my life is Des Bishop. He is my cousin. He is somebody who I am very close with, and he has been a big part of my life and particularly my daughter's life since she was born 25 years ago. He calls me the sister he never had. I cannot quite say the same because I have a brother, but we are very close. Like Deputy Ahern, I have seen Des's career grow from when he was only 19 years old. He started in comedy in UCC with his brother, Aidan. The two of them found their way through comedy as a career and all of the challenges that it brings. As somebody with a lot of family and friends in the performance space and arts space more broadly, I also see the stark difference between those people who find success in arts and those who do not.

Everybody who engages in arts, including comedy, dance, theatre and visual arts, do it for passion. They do it because they are compelled to do it. In my experience, they genuinely have no choice but to do it. Comedy, in particular, puts people in situations where they have to dig deep and bear a lot of hardship to try to get to the point where they can break even and can actually build a viable career in this space. Yet, it is so important because it brings so much to us. Even today by having a little bit of a laugh in discussing this, it lightened the mood. It has made the whole debate a lot more enjoyable and probably more meaningful for anybody involved in it or watching. Laughter brings us together as humans and comedy creates laughter. However, comedy also prompts us to think. It prompts self-awareness in us. It promotes social causes, and Des in particular has championed that throughout his career, particularly in what he done around, for example, way back in one of his first television series where he looked at minimum wage jobs and then on towards learning languages, as he did with both Irish and Chinese and what that meant for his life. There is much power in comedy and what it gives to society and culture. This is something we have to nurture and cherish.

The impact that this lack of recognition has had on the comedy scene is quite stark because as things stand, everyone across the arts space endures the lack of support for artists in this country. It is what has pushed artists of all types abroad. London has become essentially an easier home for Irish comedians than Dublin. We see from their success just how much talent we have in this arena. It is a huge loss to our cultural scene and to our society that people have no choice but to practice their craft elsewhere. The Bill presents an opportunity to give comedy the recognition, and as others have said, the dignity and respect that it genuinely deserves as an art form. It levels the playing field in ensuring that people in comedy can access arts funding and that funding can help foster new talent, writing workshops, residencies and mentorships. People will have the chance to pursue a sustainable career, if they so wish, and to be supported in sharing comedy with as many people as possible. It would be an incredibly positive and easy move to take. There is already an argument that comedy should be eligible for this funding as one of the arts. The Bill would bring comedians certainty in the area and grant them the same respect afforded to their fellow artists.

I add my disappointment with the Minister's amendment to delay this Bill by 18 months because artists cannot wait for support. Just like we have seen this gap emerge between the end of the basic income pilot scheme and the beginning of the new scheme that we hope will introduced next year, to many it may not seem like a long time, but the reality for artists is that they cannot afford to wait. People have to make decisions about jobs and bills. It is often those pressures that simply make or break comedians and other artists. It should never be the financial pressure of the industry that decides whether art gets made and which artists get to make it, comedy included. An 18-month delay means 18 months where people decide they cannot make comedy, that they must emigrate or that their craft is not worth pursuing. It is 18 months where we will continue to haemorrhage that talent. For that reason, I welcome Deputy Ahern's amendment. It is much more reasonable in recognising that there may need to be a few weeks for the Government to get its act together, but I do not see that it needs to be any longer than that.

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