Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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249. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason a Christmas festival (details supplied) was not awarded a grant under the live performance support scheme despite being a ready-to-go project as opposed to many of those awarded the grant that were only at concept stage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39544/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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An amount of over €5 million was provided for the pilot "Live Performance Support Scheme" which was heavily oversubscribed, with over 100 applications seeking funding of over €16 million. As a result, it was not possible to provide funding to all applicants. The pilot scheme was developed following consultation with the live performance sector and will inform any future schemes developed, as the Government has provided €50 million for this sector in 2021. Department officials are taking note of the elements of this pilot scheme which worked well and those that could be further enhanced in any similar future scheme. Officials in my Department have also provided feedback to applicants who applied for funding under this pilot scheme.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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250. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if grants and supports will be provided to the self-employed and sole traders who work in the arts, entertainment, music and event industry and continue to have work-related overheads despite having little or no work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39651/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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It has been widely acknowledged that the impact of COVID-19 on the live performance sector including live music, has been more detrimental and will last longer than in nearly any other sector. To help the sector, I recently announced funding allocations under the Music Industry Stimulus Package and the Live Performance Support Scheme.

Under the Music Industry Stimulus Package, 184 musicians/bands have being awarded a total of €896,000 to assist them to record singles, EPs and albums. This support covers a wide range of music genres including rock, indie, jazz, trad, folk, country, classical and electronic. There were over 1,400 applications for recording support, which reflects the high demand for support as well as being an indication of the vibrancy of the music sector in Ireland. The total funding for the 2020 Music Industry Stimulus Package of €1.7 million is supporting 79 song writing camps and 56 new album releases as well as the 184 recording awards announced.

Under the Live Performance Support Scheme, over €5 million in funding is being provided to assist commercial venues, producers and promoters to plan live performances across the country over the coming months, with a total of 59 organisations benefitting from the scheme. The main objective of this pilot scheme is to provide employment opportunities in this uncertain time and allow commercial organisers of live performances to commence preparations immediately and productions to go ahead with either a live audience or to share content through streaming.

The Government will also provide support for live entertainment in the amount of €50 million in 2021. This will include measures for the commercial entertainment sector, and will support live entertainment in venues across the country, building on the stimulus measures announced in July. This funding will also support:

- work opportunities for musicians, artists, crew and venue workers nationwide;

- supports for music, building on the strong demand for support under the July stimulus Music Scheme; and

- a scheme of capital grants for equipment.