Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I want to go through some points with her that the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland has asked me to raise with her today. There is €25 million for the live entertainment sector for 2022 in the budget and an additional €25 million was secured on the announcement of the most recent restrictions, which effectively closed the sector, yet this €25 million goes only to the ticketed sector. The survey recently carried out by the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland has the following findings. Just over 70% of the workers surveyed did not receive any work through the live performance support scheme, LPSS. Over 50% did receive support through the music and entertainment business assistance scheme, MEBAS. Almost 96% have not received funding through the Arts Council since March 2020.

The Arts Council funded theatres, venues and organisations in 2020 and 2021 through the emergency stabilisation fund. What was the reason for this funding? If it was because venues were suffering loss of revenue due to being unable to stage performances, then box office takings were almost non-existent. Was this not a compensation scheme and should this have been afforded to all businesses who suffered the same?

As Minister with responsibility for the arts, Deputy Catherine Martin has stated she cannot advise the Arts Council on policy or give it any direction. On 13 October 2021, in a press briefing on budget 2022, in response to a question about the difficulty in accessing arts funding and the difficulty in the application process, a reporter asked if the Minister would like to see that simplified. The Minister replied by saying it was not for her to tell the council how to do its business, that it is separate to her and so, legally, she cannot instruct it on how to do that. On 19 November 2020, in response to a parliamentary question, the Minister responded to a question about instructing the Arts Council on policy, by saying: "While I have authority to give policy direction to the Arts Council, I am also bound to recognise the statutory independence of the Arts Council in its funding decisions". The Arts Act 2003, Part 2, section 5(3), states: "The Minister may, in relation to the performance by the Council of its functions (other than under section 24), give a direction in writing to the Council requiring it to comply with such policies of the Minister or the Government as are specified in the direction". Which is it? The Minister can instruct it or she cannot. Does she know? Why has the Minister not exercised that ability? The Arts Council received €130 million of taxpayers’ money. Does the Minister not think a publicly elected representative and a Minister of the Government should exercise her legal power over Arts Council policy, especially at a time when its funding was generously increased to €130 million for two years in a row?

With regard to the recent funding announcement of the €25 million secured in budget 2022 and the additional €25 million secured on foot of recent restrictions, when was the decision taken to allocate €34 million to the LPSS 3 and 4 schemes? On 29 November, at the live entertainment stakeholder forum, the question was directly put to the Minister’s official on the €25 million and whether the decision had been made that it would only be used for the LPSS. The answer was an emphatic "No" and it was said that the decision had not been made already and it would not be just the LPSS. However, on 24 November, at the Minister's appearance in front of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, she stated, in reference to the €25 million fund, that there is the LPSS of €25 million for 2022. It sounds like the decision has been made yet a stakeholder forum was convened on 29 November.Are these stakeholder funds only a box-ticking exercise? Some €44 million of this funding is being funnelled through competitive schemes, meaning that not everyone will benefit. Imagine if pubs had been supported during the pandemic by a competitive scheme under which a particular pub would receive support but the one across the road would receive nothing.

The proposal for a scheme of Covid supports for arts and art workers proposed by the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland, MEAI, was emailed to the Minister's officials on 31 August 2021. Not until 24 November, during her appearance at the Oireachtas joint committee, did MEAI discover the Minister considered the scheme not feasible. She stated that officials examined it and believed it was not feasible. On 2 November, the music and entertainment cross-party committee wrote to her to enquire in this regard.

The Minister can clearly see that these schemes are not working for the artists she is here purporting to represent. I need her to do more.