Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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401. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the outcomes that are foreseen from the €5 million in extra funding promised to the national cultural institutions in budget 2022; and the breakdown of the way this will be distributed. [50746/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The additional €5m in extra funding being allocated to the national cultural institutions will be broken down as follows:

This additional funding will enable the NCIs to continue to provide outstanding exhibitions, events and outreach programmes for the public both onsite and online. The NCIs have demonstrated remarkable resilience during the crisis and will use these additional resources to progress their already impressive digital and onsite offerings and also to address ongoing revenue challenges arising from the pandemic.  Many of the bodies are currently developing plans for extended opening which will benefit from extra funding. This support is a vote of confidence in our NCIs and builds on the investment planned for each institution’s capital development project. I am delighted that my Department is able to provide this additional investment which will create ambitious, high quality cultural experiences for an increasingly diverse Irish audience.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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402. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the outcomes that are foreseen from the €6.7 million in extra funding promised to the audio visual industry in budget 2022; and the breakdown of the way this will be distributed. [50747/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, along with having responsibility for policy within the audiovisual industry, I allocate funding to Screen Ireland, the development agency for the Irish film, television and animation industry. The additional funding of €6.65m will be allocated to Screen Ireland and will be made up of €700,000 in current funding and the balance of €5.95m in capital funding.

Regarding the specific outcomes and the breakdown of that additional funding, I have referred your question to Screen Ireland for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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403. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the outcomes that are foreseen from the €4 million in extra funding promised to the night-time economy in budget 2022; and the breakdown of the way this will be distributed. [50748/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As the Deputy will be aware, I published the Report of the Night-Time Economy Taskforce last month.  This Report contained a number of recommendations which aim to stimulate and drive the Night-Time Economy across the country.  I was pleased to secure €4m in funding towards the implementation of that Report which will go towards funding a number of recommendations which my own Department is leading or supporting.  It should be noted that this is cross-Governmental Report and that my colleagues in other Departments will also be leading and driving a range of recommendations in this context.  Some of the key priorities for funding include:

- A new Scheme for Pubs and Cafés to broaden NTE activity across the country;

- Establishing six new pilot structures across the country to include NTE Advisors – innovative new partnerships will be established in six locations with the support of a NTE Advisor

- Later night-opening in the National Cultural Institutions with supportive cultural programming and new pilot late night initiatives to be developed in a selection of Cultural Institutions

- Building on the pilot late night activities for Culture Night, develop more ambitious and innovative programming for 2022 in partnership with the Arts Council and the NTE sector.

I look forward to the outcomes of these new initiatives and to supporting the further development and rejuvenation of the sector.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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404. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the outcomes that are foreseen from the €25 million in extra funding promised in live entertainment supports in budget 2022; the breakdown of the way this will be distributed; and if it will not take a similar delay again to the eight months artists waited in 2021 for live entertainment supports to be distributed following budget 2021. [50749/21]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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411. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has cut the funding for the live entertainment sector allocated in Budget 2021 by half in Budget 2022; and the reason she is forcing such cuts on the independent and commercial sectors while they are struggling to recover and at the same time, maintaining funding for the traditionally funded arts sectors at €130 million, inclusive of the increase in 2021. [50757/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 404 and 411 together.

I am acutely aware of the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the arts/culture and live entertainment sectors.  I have engaged with numerous stakeholders in the sector during the course of the pandemic to ensure that appropriate supports were put in place. 

As part of Budget 2022 I have allocated €25m for continuing supports for the Live Entertainment Sector.  While the equivalent figure for 2021 was €50m the Deputy must bear in mind that during 2021 the country was subject to significant levels of restrictions with either no live performance or very small numbers permitted for the period January to September and as a result significant levels of subvention for the commercial sector was required to protect the viability of the sector. 

At present, the expectation is that such significant restrictions won't be required in 2022 and therefore lower levels of subvention may be required when the sector returns to full capacity. Of course, the Government is aware both that it will take time for the sector to return to full capacity and that Covid restrictions could become necessary again in 2022.  To this end, as part of Budget 2022, my colleague Pascal Donohoe T.D., Minister for Finance, has created a Covid contingency fund of €4bn for next year.  This fund will provide certainty and flexibility for the public finances should the situation with the virus deteriorate unexpectedly over the coming year.

I understand that the full return of live performance will not happen overnight. I 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. This €25m will build on the supports provided by my Department during the pandemic including the LPSS, LLPSS, MEBAS, ESCSS and CECGS schemes. I will ensure that those funds are made available early in the new year and am confident that this funding will help drive employment opportunities and activity in the sector. 

In addition, the €25m I allocated under the Live Performance Support Scheme and the €5m I allocated under the Local Live Performance Support Scheme is currently supporting events across the entire country, with live performances and events happening in every county.