Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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118. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has assessed the number of enterprises supported by her Department that are reporting financial distress; and the capacity of policy initiatives to ensure that viable activities can be sustained. [55053/21]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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156. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has assessed the number of enterprises supported by her Department which are reporting financial distress; and the capacity of policy initiatives to ensure that viable activities can be sustained. [55109/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 156 together.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant and ongoing impact on the operating landscape for the sectors my Department supports.  Throughout the pandemic, while not assessing numbers of enterprises, I have been actively working with and for the sectors within my remit to ensure that they are supported.  My focus for these engagements is both to find ways to support the sectors during the period of the pandemic as well as charting a path for their recovery after the crisis has passed. 

My Department is also engaged in ongoing analysis of economic trends across the sectors that fall within the remit of my Department, including analysis of trends in uptake for COVID-related horizontal employment supports and potential impacts for businesses in these sectors.  This work can help to inform policy responses where required.

Since the onset of the Pandemic, I have established a number of fora and taskforces to facilitate  sectoral stakeholders in bringing forward their experiences and ideas to inform the development of appropriate policy responses across my Department's remit.  These include:

- Tourism Recovery Oversight Group;

- The Hospitality and Tourism Forum which I co-chair with An Tánaiste;

- The Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce;

- The Sports Monitoring Group and Expert Group on the Return to Sport;

- Live Entertainment Working Group;

- Night-time Economy Taskforce;

Many of the actions contained in the reports produced by the Tourism Recovery Oversight Group, Arts and Culture Recovery and the Night-Time Economy Taskforces’ are now being implemented by my Department, in partnership with other Government stakeholders, and I consider these as essential inputs to our journey towards recovery.  

Regular meetings of the Sports Monitoring Group at which NGBs provide up-to-date assessments of the status of their operations and the progress being made in relation to the resumption of their particular sports allow Minister Chambers and I to keep up to date on the ongoing COVID-19 impacts to the sports sector.

My officials and I have also engaged with stakeholders in the media sector in relation to the impact of COVID-19. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is reporting to me quarterly on the impacts of COVID-19 on the independent radio sector.

I am continuing to work with colleagues across Government to ensure that the sectors within my remit were provided with a range of financial supports and pandemic recovery measures.  These include the horizontal measures of the PUP, EWSS and CRSS.

Within my own Department, tailored funding measures have been introduced to support all of the sectors under my remit, in specific response to the pandemic, as well as to reflect commitments in the Programme for Government and ongoing policy to support, empower and grow these sectors.

These measures include a range of funding streams for the live entertainment sector, an Adaptation Fund and a Business Continuity Scheme for the tourism sector delivered through Fáilte Ireland, a funding package for the sport sector, Gaeltacht supports and increased funding for the Arts Council.  My officials are available to assist  the Deputy if he has specific questions  in relation to any of these measures. 

The sectors under my remit are at the heart of our identity as a people and the pandemic has demonstrated very clearly the critical role they play in social and economic well-being. The resilience of these sectors, in the face of the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, has been remarkable, particularly as many were among the first sectors to close and are the last to return to full capacity.

I am greatly  heartened at the response to and uptake of the various supports, both horizontal and sectoral, that have been put in place.  Recognising that resilience and the hugely important role that these sectors play in Ireland's collective economic and social well-being, I will continue to work with the stakeholders to  monitor the evolving situation and to work with my Government colleagues to support these sectors and, with officials and Government colleagues, to support a strong and stable recovery as we emerge from the pandemic.