Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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244. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason the circus sector has been excluded from the Covid restrictions support scheme despite the statement she made that the sector may qualify for same (details supplied); the grant scheme for which the circus sector is eligible; if none, if a financial support package will be put in place for the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39927/20]

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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252. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the actions being taken to save the Irish circus industry during Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39811/20]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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254. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason she has stated that the circus sector may qualify for the Covid restrictions support scheme when the eligibility criteria for the scheme expressly exclude the circus sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39921/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 244, 252 and 254 together.

Primary support for the arts in Ireland is delivered by the Arts Council. Funding for the Arts Council has increased steadily in recent years and will reach €130 million in 2021. The Arts Council, which is independent in its funding decisions under the Arts Act 2003, operates within a published ten-year strategic framework entitled Making Great Art Work. The Arts Council supports and develops the arts in Ireland through grant funding, project awards, support to individual artists, and support to venues, publications and resource organisations.

The Arts Act 2003 specifically includes circus as an art form and circus is supported by the Arts Council by way of grants under a range of categories including Bursary, Strategic Funding, Project Awards and Touring and Dissemination awards. In 2020, circus artists also qualified for the Council's COVID-19 Crisis Response Award. Details of all grants are available on the Arts Council's website at .

Supports from the Arts Council are in addition to the wide range of non-sector specific supports with varying criteria available to assist organisations impacted by the pandemic and information is available on these at.