Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is grand. We need to see detail on certain matters in advance of the aforementioned Bills coming to the House next week, with regard to those in the arts sector in particular. They are now facing a dual uncertainty, due to the pandemic unemployment payment and the freezing of rents and the eviction ban, as a disproportionate share of people in the arts sector are renting and are not paying mortgages. I ask for that detail on the €10 million performance fund and for certainty on how it will be distributed in the sector. It would be great if it went to organisations and their employees, but there is a very real difficulty for freelancers.

The real issue with yesterday's announcement is that the firepower of the State's resources is being directed at businesses in the hope that it will create jobs and that they would remain viable, but all the usual rules of thumb with regard to the incentives to business, elasticity in putting money in and ensuring that businesses will react accordingly are gone out the door. We simply do not know what the next few months are going to bring for the Irish economy. It is regrettable that we are dependent on businesses and the trickle-down effect to workers. We need certainty for those who are out of jobs, in particular for those depending on the pandemic unemployment payment.