Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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174. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to address the widespread income and employment insecurity faced by art, culture, film, music and entertainment workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55227/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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At its meeting of 19^thof October Government agreed that the remaining aspects of the hospitality, entertainment and night-time economy sector could reopen from October 22^ndwith the full range of protective measures in place and the wide and robust implementation of the COVID-19 pass.This represents an important next step towards the full reopening of our economy and our society, and is a crucial opportunity to return to work for those who work in the live entertainment and events sector. 

I was very cognisant of the challenges the restrictions caused for the arts/culture and live entertainment industry in 2021 and I allocated over €60m to support the sector and drive employment opportunities for artists and crews, through the introduction of the following schemes:

-  €25m Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS)

-  €16.5m Events Sector Covid Support Scheme (ESCSS)

-  €10m Local Live Performance Support Scheme (LLPSS)

-  €4m Music and Entertainment Support Scheme (MEBAS)

-  €5m Commercial Entertainment Capital Grant Scheme (CECGS)

-  €1m St. Patrick's Festival

The Government allocated €25m for the live entertainment sector as part of Budget 2022 and am examining the supports in place for the sector to ensure that available resources are best deployed to meet the needs of the sector to ensure a full recovery is possible.

As part of Budget 2022, I have maintained the Arts Council allocation at the record-level of €130m. This allocation will allow the Arts Council to continue to protect jobs and livelihoods of artists, and assist arts organisations through financial difficulties. With this ongoing strong public funding in 2022, the Arts Council is empowered to play a strong role in supporting artists and arts organisations to flourish in the years ahead.

Other priorities for Budget 2022 was to secure €25m in funding for a pilot Basic Income Guarantee Scheme for artists and arts workers. I plan to launch this pilot scheme early in 2022.