Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she plans to introduce another scheme to support those with a turnover of less than €50,000, many of whom operate in small rural areas, in the Gaeltacht and on the islands, given that the Covid support scheme recently announced by Fáilte Ireland for the tourism industry only assists businesses with turnover of more than €50,000 per annum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7697/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The July Stimulus and Budget 2021 provided a significant package of tax and fiscal measures to build the resilience of the economy and to help vulnerable but viable businesses across all sectors. Key measures for the tourism sector include:

- A €55 million business continuity scheme to help strategic tourism business survive the pandemic and drive recovery

- The VAT rate for the Sector was reduced to 9% to help improve competitiveness and viability of businesses.

- Two separate funds of €10 million each were introduced for Coach Tourism Operators and Ireland Based Inbound Agents Business Continuity Scheme in the last quarter of 2020.

- Funding of €5 million has also been provided for upskilling training and to improve digital presence.

- A €26 million adaptation fund for the tourism sector to adapt their premises to meet COVID-19 safety requirements.

- €8 million was also provided for a Restart Grant Plus to include B&B accommodation.

In addition, the Government has introduced a number of horizontal measures that have been of assistance to the tourism sector including the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), tax warehousing, and the Commercial Rates waiver.

In regard to the recently announced Fáilte Ireland scheme, this was a specific measure in the Budget to support strategic tourism businesses in meeting their fixed costs and should be seen within the context of broader horizontal supports such as the CRSS, EWSS, PUP and the ReStart Grant. It is intended that it will open for applications for the first phase of the scheme 11th February and it will contribute to the fixed costs of identified strategic tourism businesses that are not eligible for CRSS to support their survival.

The measures introduced to date have been critical in assisting tourism businesses to survive the hugely challenging situation brought about by the pandemic. While there are currently no plans to introduce further schemes I, along with my colleagues in Government, will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that appropriate supports are in place to mitigate the economic impacts.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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89. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the supports available for the most iconic cultural venues in Dublin city to ensure they survive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7795/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I secured significant increases in the operational budgets of the National Cultural Institutions (NCIs) for 2021. The NCIs encompass many of Dublin's iconic cultural venues including the National Gallery, the Irish Museum of Modern Art at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the National Library, the National Museum, Collins Barracks, the Natural History Museum, the Chester Beatty Library, the National Archives and the National Concert Hall. Funding for the NCIs increased from €48.9m in 2020 to €60.2m in 2021; an increase of 23% in a single year.

In addition, there is a €460m investment programme for our NCIs to modernise these centuries old buildings so that they can provide a modern state of the art home for our national collections. Despite the pandemic, construction work continued when possible during 2020 and progress continues to be made on the appraisal and planning phases of this programme of investment.

In response to COVID-19, my Department opened a further stream (Stream D) of funding specifically for capital adaptations or equipment necessary to assist arts and culture organisations in re-opening. Under this stream capital funding is provided to assist in the re-opening of theatres, arts centres and culture venues as part of Project Ireland 2040. Capital grants of up to €10,000 have been provided to arts and culture facilities including venues in Dublin (and elsewhere) to allow them to re-open safely. Since the scheme opened last July, 77 capital grants have been made and €382,000 drawn down by the grantees.

Primary support for the arts, including a number of cultural venues particularly theatres, is delivered by the Arts Council. In 2021, the Government allocated €130m to the Arts Council which is an increase of 62% over the amount initially allocated for 2020. The Arts Council, which is independent in its funding decisions under the Arts Act 2003 and provides support to venues. The Council have in place a number of new and enhanced funding programmes which have been introduced in response to COVID-19 and includes an Emergency Stabilisation Fund to provide once-off financial support to Strategic Funded and Arts Centre Funded organisations that are in need of emergency grant aid.

In addition, my Department funded a range of performances at venues nationwide under the pilot Live Performance Support Scheme. These included performances in Dublin venues such as the Olympia Theatre and Whelan's on Wexford Street.

Finally, in line with a commitment in the Programme for Government, I established a Night-time Economy Taskforce last July which is affording an opportunity for relevant stakeholders from across the night-time culture sector to develop an innovative approach to supporting and developing a vibrant, diverse, and sustainable night-time economy across Ireland, including our capital city.