Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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15. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the additional funding she has requested in the July stimulus; the way in which she plans to allocate the stimulus to support those working in music, live entertainment and the events sector to sustain performers, crew and event organisers who are unable to recommence work or who will see the work and income available to them dramatically reduced as long as social distancing and public health restrictions remain; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17392/20]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Our arts, music, live entertainment and events sector is facing an absolutely dire crisis as a result of Covid-19. Our artists, performers and skilled crew see no roadmap to recovery and have seen their incomes absolutely devastated. What has the Minister asked of her Government colleagues in the July stimulus to respond to the crisis being faced by arts, music, live entertainment and events?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I agree that the entire arts community and those who work in it have taken a massive hit. They were the first impacted, and due to the very nature of their activities, they may be the last to return. We need our arts now more than ever. They defines us as a people.

Since the advent of the crisis, officials from my Department have been actively engaging with the sector and continuing to engage with the agencies under its remit and other sectoral stakeholders to ensure that there is the greatest level of awareness of the available supports and to ensure that optimal use is made of available resources to best support this sector at this challenging time.

On businesses involved in the entertainment industry, such as SMEs and sole traders, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has put in place a comprehensive suite of supports for firms of all sizes, which includes grants, low-cost loans, commercial rates write-offs and deferred tax liabilities. These supports are designed to build confidence, to further assist businesses in the management of their companies, and to allow them to begin to look into the future and start charting a path forward for the weeks and months ahead. The Government has also extended its two universal income support measures for all sectors, and further measures will also be set out in the forthcoming July stimulus, which will build on the existing suite of supports introduced since the pandemic began and will aim to help sustain incomes. boost business, and kick-start the various sectors. Furthermore, the Government has committed to brining forward a national economic plan, to be published alongside the budget in October, which will outline the Government's plans to support the long-term sustainability of the economy.

Details of the July stimulus will be announced shortly, but I can assure the Deputy that I am on the Cabinet subcommittee for economic recovery, and I am acutely aware of the pressure facing the sector in light of the public health guidance. They have a voice at Cabinet and a voice on that Cabinet subcommittee. As I said, I am acutely aware of their needs and am pushing for everything in the July stimulus package.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I certainly hope that is true. The arts, music, live entertainment and events sector will be watching closely to see if it is true. While I welcome the fact that an additional €25 million was given in response to campaigning by the National Campaign for the Arts and the Minister alludes to some supports for small businesses in the events sector, some of the signs are not very good. The truth is that the cuts in the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, have already impacted very significantly on many artists, performers, musicians and so on. Some of them did not even get the pandemic payment because they were not working at the time, even though it is obviously an episodic existence where employment and income is concerned, so that was totally unfair. We are getting indications that the Government plans to cut the pandemic payment from €350 to €300, which will further punish people such as artists, performers, crew and so on who are dependent on that. Is the Government going respond to the key call, which is that the income supports should be maintained as a basic income for artists, crew, performers and musicians?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I am examining a whole suite of measures because that is what is needed to support this sector. As I have said, my Department has met with a wide range of stakeholders from across the arts and culture sector in recent months. The programme for Government commits to establishing a cross-departmental task force to develop a clear approach, informed by the views of all stakeholders, to protect and sustain the arts and culture sector throughout the Covid recovery and beyond, which in turn will inform the national economic plan.

Officials from my Department have met with the live entertainment sector which has sought a range of supports, including an extension of the temporary wage subsidy scheme, TWSS, a waiver of business rates and establishment of that cross-departmental task force. I am considering a whole suite of supports for them.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Minister is slightly dodging the question because the reports are that the TWSS is going to be tapered, that is, reduced - I love these euphemisms - and that the pandemic payment is going to be cut. That is going to hit disproportionately the musicians, performers and live entertainment and events sectors. That payment should be turned into a minimum income above and beyond which people can earn something.

Some of the other big requests that are being asked for are whether we can take measures to make sure people like Spotify and other online content platforms pay artists, because much artistic content is now online. Even though they make huge profits, they pay miserable amounts of money to the actual artists and performers. Can we ensure broadcasters are actually required to broadcast a minimum percentage of 40% or 50% of domestically produced artistic, theatrical and dramatic output so that we can give real support? Critically, the main demand of the sector is that the PUP is maintained, not cut and is extended to everybody in the arts, music and live entertainment and events sectors.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As I said, I am fighting for a whole range of supports. That specific matter is one for my colleagues in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the Department of Finance. I am seeking all measures to support the community.

With regard to online content, it is not enough for people to say we value or artists or they are invaluable to our economy and well-being. We have to pay them for the content, and I am working on a whole range of solutions and have been engaging to see how we can do that. We must, in this context of Covid-19, explore, develop and pay our artists for new platforms to enjoy what they bring to society. As I said, it is crucial our artists are paid for what they provide us.