Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)

Míle buíochas le Aengus Ó Snodaigh as an gcuireadh inniu. Bhí sé an-tábhachtach dom labhairt leis na daoine seo ar fad inniu chun scéalta a gcuid saolta a chloisteáil agus na trioblóidí atá siad ag dul tríd faoi láthair. Tá sé an-deacair do na daoine seo mar níl aon support ann dóibh. I thank every Deputy who spoke today. Many Deputies spoke about the loss of talent, talent being drained from this country with regard to the arts and comedy. My cousin, Amy Walsh, emigrated to Canada due to not being able to get this funding. She would love to be in Ireland, creating in our daytime and night-time economy, and adding to our economy by creating these nights that are very important to Irish society.

The programme for Government, which I signed up to, believes that culture and art are essential for a well-rounded society. I do not understand how comedians are left out of this. This is not a joke to them, no pun intended. This is about the livelihoods of these comedians. I held a comedy night as I was a comedian before I got involved in politics. We had a fundraising event, raising money for Ukraine, and multiple comedians came along without any payment. They knew it was for a good cause but this is a constant for them. I spoke to them and they generally do not get paid for these acts. They are shining a light into people's lives for those 20 minutes. I was more afraid speaking on a comedy stage than speaking in this House, which is very funny. I am afraid I would give Deputy Ahern a run for his money, going head-to-head in a comedy act. It is something that needs to be said.

I spoke to the comedians, Craig Moran, Rob Nother and Emman Idama, today. They are all constantly working and when the recent announcement to extend the scheme for artists was announced, it did crush them because it was not only comedians, but other artists, who were expecting to reapply to see if they could get into this scheme. When the Minister looks at extending the scheme again, he needs to look at what people are doing for the money they are getting because some people are not doing enough. These comedians are dying to get that funding.

Regarding the basic income for artists, in the programme for Government we said we were going to assess it and pilot it to the max. I ask the Minister to look at that. I want to say to all the comedians in the Gallery today that they have my full support. By postponing this by 18 months, the Minister is just kicking the can down the road. The programme for Government states that we are going to assess this. I hope we can review this and support Deputy Ó Snodaigh's Bill.

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