Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the good news from the Department headed by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, and the Government of the €2.6 million for the first Town Centre First plans. The town that has been chosen in County Roscommon, I am proud to say, is my own home town of Strokestown. It is also the home with the National Famine Museum, which is also going under a major upgrading plan of €5 million with State support. We also have the €200 million N5 bypass investment going on there at the moment. It is a good day for many towns throughout the country and particularly for my own home town of Strokestown, where €100,000 will now be made available through the local authority, for the local community and the local authority to draw up plans to revitalise the centre of our town.

I wish to support the comments of Senator Black and of my colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne. I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, of €5 million for the seasonal musical and pantomime scheme, €34 million for live performance supports, €5 million for local authority acts and performance support, €5 million in adoption grants and €1 million for St. Patrick's Day festivals in 2022. However, many smaller artists have had their whole Christmas performances called off. These people would have had 40, 50 or 60 gigs and such Christmas gigs would have covered their finances for at least half the year. They were told yesterday evening they will not get back on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP. We need clarification and we need it quickly because I can tell the Leader, the Chair and Members that there are families involved in music, as well as engineers, who definitely will be short of money for Christmas. Please do not let that happen. The money is there and the announcements are welcome but it needs to come down to the people who really need it now on the front line.