Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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133. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which the tourism sector can be further assisted in the short and medium term given the severe impact of Covid-19 on the industry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28049/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Tourism has suffered a severe impact as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Along with my colleagues in Government, I have taken a number of measures to help the sector survive this current crisis. The July Stimulus Package introduced significant measures to help support businesses to recover following the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Some of the key measures for tourism and hospitality include the “Stay and Spend” initiative, the €26m adaptation grant, the €10m grant for coach tourism and the revised Restart grant which now includes B&B’s.  Tourism enterprises also benefit from wider horizontal supports such as the new Employment Wage Support Scheme, liquidity and enterprise investment measures, warehousing of tax liabilities and the extension for a further three months of the waiver of commercial rates.

As part of its response to COVID-19, and to drive bookings for short breaks and holidays in Ireland in 2020, Fáilte Ireland has invested in a number of domestic holiday campaigns since June of this year.  I have seen at first hand that these campaigns have been successful in getting Irish people to holiday at home.

All of these measures have been of great benefit to the sector. I appreciate, however, that we need to continue to examine ways to ensure that businesses survive and recover. The Tourism Recovery Taskforce appointed in May submitted its report to me this week. It is making a number of recommendations to help the sector to survive the crisis and eventually recover. Along with my colleagues in Government, I will consider its recommendations as we prepare for the Budget and the subsequent National Economic Plan.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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134. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she continues to explore ways to assist the tourism sector at home and internationally in an effort to address issues caused by Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28050/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Brexit poses significant challenges to our tourism sector. The impact of the drop in value of sterling since the UK referendum on EU membership in 2016 has been that from a tourism perspective, Ireland has become a more expensive destination for UK visitors.  The number of British visitors to Ireland in 2019 was 3.5% lessthan in 2016 and the associated revenue generated by British visitors was 7.9% less in 2019 than in 2016.

A No-Deal Brexit, combined with impacts of Covid-19, will have very significant negative impacts for Irish tourism. It will mean fewer tourists, lower revenues, less employment and a lost in Exchequer earnings from the sector. These losses will impact Ireland as a whole but will be felt hardest in regional areas where there are few alternatives to replace the economic benefits generated by tourism.

In 2019, the Government allocated almost €8 million in additional funding to the tourism agencies specifically to respond to the impact of Brexit. Furthermore, additional Government supplementary funding of €7 million was provided to the agencies at the end of 2019, primarily to support accelerated tourism marketing initiatives aimed at mitigating the impacts of Brexit.

Budget 2020 saw an allocation of almost €186 million for tourism, up 10% (over €17m) on the 2019 allocation. This has helped to ensure that the agencies remain equipped to deal with the challenges caused by Brexit as the situation evolves. Budget 2020 also included a €40m contingency fund for tourism, which would be available in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

GB is a vital market for Ireland’s tourism sector. It provides the best seasonal and regional dispersion of visitors across the country. GB is Ireland’s single largest source market, accounting for 35% of all overseas tourists in 2019.

Fáilte Ireland will continue to support businesses to access relevant Brexit business supports, to cut and contain costs, build value and drive competitiveness. Through its ‘Get Brexit Ready’ programme, Fáilte Ireland offers a set of supports, to help tourism businesses meet Brexit-related challenges such as development supports, training programmes, and insights and market intelligence. Tourism businesses can also avail of Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Brexit-check’ online tool allowing them to assess their own level of Brexit readiness.

Tourism Ireland is undertaking an extensive programme of research in our major markets – to identify when consumers are ready to consider holidaying again and which of our markets offer us the best short-term prospects. The insights gained will inform Tourism Ireland’s new business plan and will ensure that Tourism Ireland’s promotional plan is as targeted and as motivational as it possibly can be – in order to drive a strong recovery for tourism to the island of Ireland as quickly as it is possible to realise it. 

Officials from my Department and the tourism agencies remain in close contact as regards ensuring that appropriate contingency plans and other necessary resources are in place to assist in preparing for the end of the transition period.

The Government has put in place a range of supports and other resources to assist in preparing for the end of the transition period.  Businesses are encouraged to avail of these supports, and to get ready now if they have not already done so.  Acting now can help to mitigate the risks of disruption, delays and increased costs.

The Tourism Recovery Taskforce has completed its final report this week, which includes a set of recommendations on how best the Irish Tourism sector, can adapt and recover. In the context of framing Budget 2021 and our impending National Economic Plan, I am reviewing the recommendations of the Taskforce with my colleagues in Government, as we consider the policy measures needed to facilitate sector growth in what will be a highly competitive and uniquely challenging environment for Irish tourism in a Post COVID-19 and Post Brexit world.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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135. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she continues to explore ways and means of assisting the arts, notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic, with particular reference to the need to regenerate employment in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28051/20]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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136. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she continues to have dialogue with stakeholders in the arts with a view to achieving a means of addressing the crisis arising from the Covid-19 pandemic; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28052/20]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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137. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she continues to promote the arts and culture sectors as a means of recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28053/20]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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138. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she expects cultural activities to assist in Ireland's recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28054/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 135 to 138, inclusive, together.

The arts and culture sectors have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; cultural venues and events were among the first to be closed in the country’s public health response to the crisis, and they will be among the last to recover.

The Deputy will also be aware that I have recently appointed the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce which is beìng chaired by Clare Duignan.  The membership of the taskforce includes representation from the Events Industry Alliance.  Taking as its starting point, the research and evidence of the devastating impact of the pandemic on the sector compiled by the Department, the Arts Council and other stakeholders, the Taskforce will prepare a report to me setting out recommendations on how best the arts and culture sector can adapt and recover from the unprecedented damage arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.  The sector includes culture, the arts, the audiovisual industry and the live entertainment industry.

The Taskforce has already met twice.  Its proceedings will be conducted in a transparent manner and all correspondence will be published in due course. 

Earlier this month, I launched a number of new music and performance support schemes to aid employment in the creative industries.  An allocation of €5 million is being made available under the “Live Performance Support Scheme” which aims to assist commercial venues, producers and promoters of live performances and provide employment to workers in the creative industries.

A further support package, the Music Stimulus Package, involves three funding schemes designed to help sustain the popular and commercial music sector across all music genres, including rock, pop, hip hop, indie, jazz, country and western and traditional and folk.  Under this package, a fund of €1,000,000 is being put in place to stimulate areas of work which artists would usually fund with income from own sources including live event fees.  These schemes are targeted at professional musicians and their teams and will support song writing camps, recording and album releases.  The aim is to ensure that Irish musicians, engineers, PR, media, agents, labels and publishers can continue to develop and share their work in the context of COVID restrictions. The Music Stimulus Package schemes will be managed on behalf of the Department by First Music Contact and will be subject to peer panel assessment.

With the upcoming Budget and the development of the National Economic Plan, the Government will review and refine existing supports, and consider any further necessary measures required as a consequence of COVID-19.