Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment is set to next meet. [17243/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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6. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment will next meet. [17251/20]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment will next meet. [18556/20]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 5 to 7, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment was established and first met on Wednesday, 8 July. It subsequently met on 15 July and again on 21 July. The committee's terms of reference are to oversee the implementation of the programme for Government commitments aimed at sustainable economic recovery, investment and job creation. The committee will operate in accordance with established guidelines for Cabinet committees and substantive issues will be referred to Government for discussion and approval. The Cabinet committee's immediate focus has been the development of proposals for a July jobs stimulus in line with the commitments in the programme for Government. The July jobs stimulus, a package of over €7 billion worth of measures, was announced by the Government on 23 July. It is designed to stimulate a jobs-led recovery and to build economic confidence, while continuing to manage the impact of Covid-19. It includes measure to extend income and employment supports to affected individuals and companies, to help people get back into work, training or education, to build confidence among businesses and support them through the months ahead, to invest in job-rich infrastructure projects in every part of the country and to invest in areas of future growth like the green economy.

The July jobs stimulus is a further step in the Government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and will be followed later this year by a national economic plan to chart a long-term jobs-led recovery. In accordance with the programme for Government, the Cabinet committee will meet at least once every four weeks. The next date is to be confirmed.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Notwithstanding the U-turn the Government was forced into on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and travel I do not think the Government really gets the anger that is being felt by the economic victims of the Covid-19 measures. I have been trying to explain to the Taoiseach and to other Government spokespeople for weeks now that there are particular cohorts of people who have been savaged, decimated and put on their knees because of the economic consequences of public health measures. These people are likely to face the devastation of their livelihoods for the foreseeable future through no fault of their own. They are taxi drivers, people in the arts, music and live entertainment, as well as the crews behind the scenes in those areas. To that list one might add people in the bar sector. The Government has completely shafted those people, who faced the same hardship as everybody else and who are still facing it.

Let us start with taxi drivers. Taxi drivers are now being whipped back to work because of the cuts the Government has imposed on the PUP via the new conditions. The work available to them is about 20% of what was available pre-Covid because their livelihoods are linked to tourism, music, live entertainment, theatres and so on. This will be the case for the foreseeable future. What has the Government given them in the Bill debated last night or in the Bill before the Dáil today? I am trying to get in an amendment in respect of the latter but apparently I cannot. My amendment deals with a question, namely, whether the Government give taxi drivers access to the wage subsidy scheme as a step-down payment in the same way it has given companies access. The answer is "No". The Government has given taxi drivers nothing. Did it give them access to the restart grant? The answer is "No". Did it give them measures that would not even have costed the Exchequer anything, such as the ten-year expiry date on their vehicles being extended to 15 years? The answer is "No".

The Government has given taxi drivers nothing; it has shafted them. They are suffering through no fault of their own. The same is true for arts workers. Musicians have been shafted as well. They do not get the grants, they do not get an income subsidy and now they have had their pandemic unemployment payments cut. What is the Government doing for these people who are suffering and are likely to suffer as a result of the economic fallout of measures the Taoiseach's Government has imposed? The answer so far has been nothing. It is not fair and it is not right. I can tell the Taoiseach that the Government is storing up a big revolt among these sectors of society unless some supports are offered to them this week. They are angry. A lot of them are people who used to vote for Fianna Fáil and they are angry. There are going to be protests unless the Government does something. It is driving a coach and horses through the principle that we are all in it together. Unless the Government gives these groups some support, it is stabbing them in the back. So far they have got nothing.

When I have asked about this in the Dáil over the past few weeks, the Taoiseach and other Government spokespeople have wittered on and said that these groups would get some of the business grants. This morning their representatives called both the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation asking whether they could access the business grants. The answer was "No". Why are they being refused? Why are companies getting these grants and a taxi driver cannot? It is not fair.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to raise the absence of the arts from the July stimulus strategy with the Taoiseach. The Government's treatment of people in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment in recent times has been well voiced by all of us in opposition. The Government's decision yesterday evening to oppose the Sinn Féin amendment to the Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020, which recognised the unique situation of workers unable to return to work due to the public health emergency was very disappointing. The Taoiseach now finds himself in the incredible situation that both the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, have raised the legality of his Government's decision to financially penalise PUP recipients for travelling. As is the Taoiseach's wont, he has sought to muddy both organisations' core issues as he responds to these questions.

As the Taoiseach is aware, one of the sectors unable to return to work is the arts. It is worth noting that 72% of artists earn less than the minimum wage. I recently met representatives of the sector in Dublin and in Galway last Friday. I had the pleasure of visiting the Town Hall Theatre but sadly had to enjoy it as an empty space that will not be in use for quite some time. The Taoiseach pushed legislation last night which told musicians, actors, stage producers and set designers that they must be actively seeking work to retain their PUP. Where and from whom are these workers to seek employment in a sector that is shut down?

What is the Government's plan for the arts sector? What is the specific investment the Government intends to make? Where will the money be spent? How much will be provided over the next 24 months? In the one mention of the arts in the stimulus plan, the Government lobs the sector in with a range of heritage, arts, tourism and Gaeltacht-related projects. How much of the €40 million allocated to these various sectors will the arts actually receive? Prior to Covid, the National Campaign for the Arts had called for a doubling of investment in the arts. This figure post-Covid will need to be revisited. Is this the Taoiseach's intention?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To answer Deputy Boyd Barrett's points on the taxi drivers, the pub sector, entertainment and the arts, the PUP covered a lot of those sectors as, indeed, did the wage subsidy scheme, which covered quite a number of pubs. In fact, there was an enormous intervention by the State, which just gets dismissed and ignored and the Deputy uses language such as that people were shafted. A total of 1.1 million people were on State supports at one stage during Covid-19 because it has been an extraordinary and unprecedented pandemic that has negatively impacted on people and jobs. I get it. Of course, it has been devastating for many sectors, particularly the collapse of the travel trade, tourism and people travelling in and out of the country, which has had a huge impact on hospitality and tourism in general and, consequently, on taxi drivers, pubs and the arts and entertainment more generally. I understand this.

With regard to Deputy McDonald's point, prior to this Government coming in, the interim Government provided substantial funding to the arts in response to the campaign by the National Campaign for the Arts at the time. In the July stimulus, provision has been made for the arts in respect of a new drama and TV fund of €3 million and €2 million for a sound and vision fund.

I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, on this and on the need to create employment opportunities for artists in sectors where they may be under-represented, such as in education, for example. We should increase the number of artists in residence in schools or give greater supports to theatre and education companies and create new employment alternatives and performance supports for artists online. All of this will never replace what was there prior to Covid but our objective will be to work with the artistic community to try to create meaningful supports for them. We understand that as a specific group they require a specific response, given the nature of the employment and the fact Covid-19 has dramatically impacted on their way of life, particularly with regard to the audiences on whom many artists depend. We are very aware of this and the various supports, from the employment wage subsidy to the PUP, have made a telling and important impact. They will never replace what was there for many people but at least they have helped people to get through this period.

Other measures include the restart grants, which apply to those paying rates. There are challenges once we go outside this as to how we structure and validate them and how we can give additional supports to those who do not have rateable premises. Other taxation measures may be of assistance to taxi owners and drivers but in some cases they may not. There is a combination of measures which, if we add them all up, can be of assistance.

I am very conscious of the need to work on these specific sectors. More broadly, there will be continued focus on the childcare sector, and on the hospitality and tourism sector in general. With regard to pubs we had to take the decision we took to defer the reopening of phase 4. That will come up for examination in the coming weeks, with regard to 10 August, and we will be guided by public health advice. Last week, I met the publicans' representative bodies in this regard and I am acutely aware of the very difficult situation that many publicans throughout the country-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Can we have a brief supplementary question?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Of course.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am asking the Taoiseach in advance of the Bill tonight, and I know it is late but-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sorry?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Bill tonight. I ask that the Government amend it to make the income subsidies available to employers available to the self-employed in sectors such as the arts, music, live entertainment and taxi drivers. They are having their pandemic unemployment payments cut but, unlike other people, whom Government is trying to encourage to maintain their relationship with employment, there is no step-down subsidy for them. They want to work but no work is available for them or there is very little work.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy has made the point. Can we hear the Taoiseach's response?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am just asking this because it is very important. Will the Taoiseach please give them an income subsidy scheme or a step-down scheme?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy does not have to repeat himself. He has asked the question. Can the Taoiseach help?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To be fair, the Tánaiste has looked at all of this, and in the context of the July stimulus, we all collectively looked at it. It is not as simple or as easy as the Deputy has put forward. There are real issues with regard to its administration and validation throughout the economy. I take the general point he made and we will continue to work on this with regard to how supports can meaningfully be given to people in the situations he has outlined. I am not so sure whether the amendment to tonight's legislation is the appropriate vehicular mechanism to do it because the broader question is the restart grant and its application.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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They are not getting it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know that and there is a reason. It is very straightforward in terms of businesses that are valued for rates purposes. There were significant logistical difficulties with it.