Matt Shanahan urges urgent funding for the arts amid COVID-19

I just acknowledge that while we're in the House here again this evening the fact that families are bereaved and that family members are suffering and we thank again our healthcare workers who are doing so much to these very difficult times. Minister, when we talk of the arts in Ireland we are speaking about some of the central foundations of our culture, our Irishness, the historical and contemporary creative spirit that has fuelled our Celtic identity and has moulded today the diverse society that is Ireland in 2020. For many years our country has strode the world's stages in theatre, drama, dance, film and music. Our literary contributions are without international beer. Our cities and regional landscapes boast both historical and modern architecture of cultural significance, design and ingenuity. Our rich visual arts heritage, our traditional arts, the street arts and spectacles that we have developed in this country in recent years have placed Ireland as a must-visit destination exemplified by attracting 11.2 million visitors to these shores in 2019. How do we value this rich tapestry of lived experience and economic benefit in these present and challenging times, Minister? We in this country are faced into unparalleled economic upheaval. The present fallout of COVID-19 and the future implications of dealing with the requirements of social distancing has made normal activity resumption impossible for many of our traditional artists, our performers, our artistic promoters. At the best of times for many in the artistic community finances can be often precarious, but today it is no exaggeration to say that for many personal and community finances are perched on a knife edge. Our theatres, indoor and outdoor venues have been closed since March of this year. The majority of artistic community income has totally stopped without an answer as to how it can return. For theatre and for drama, for example, how do you produce new work in this new reality of social distancing? In 2019, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, for example, scheduled 30 different productions to a nightly audience of 500 people. The new live audience restriction with social distancing requirements is 52. How can art centres open their doors to an available 10% of their previous footfall and yet continue to pay 100% of their previous operating costs? The National Campaign for the Arts states that an additional £20 million is needed for venues and artists to survive. I applaud the Council for swiftly releasing virtually all available 2020 funding to artists and art organisations. But what of next year when even more will be needed? What priority will Government place in supporting the arts in any future recovery plan, Minister? Where and in what quantity will arts funding be provided in this new reality? For indoor and outdoor venues where social distancing must be observed, what innovations can be encouraged and developed? What supports provided to ensure that not alone must the show go on, but that it can do so viably and into the future? The priority scale and support that Government demonstrates to secure our future arts sector minister will signal whether our economic drivers are actively engaged or are absent or asleep at the wheel. Perhaps our thought leaders might reflect on the activity of the German Government, who recently announced a sweeping aid package for the country's creative and cultural sectors. The German Culture Minister, Monika Gruthers, was quoted as saying, We know the hardships, the desperation, we know the importance of the creative industry sector and the problems with livelihood. We are providing help and that help is coming quickly and with as little bureaucracy as possible. Can we also, Minister, extend the lofty gaze of your department and senior officials to such high ambition? Can I reflect the experience from my own city of Waterford, Minister? Our Theatre Royal and Garter Lane theatres remain closed and will be unviable for many months and possibly years to come. For a generation in Waterford there has not been an August bank holiday weekend, but rather simply there has been the Spree weekend. This year Waterford will not rhyme and chime in August to the rhythms of the Spree International Street Arts Festival. Instead, our 28-year-old street festival has been stopped in its tracks. Honouring government directors and large-scale outdoor events this summer, Spree organisers, our artists, our musicians, volunteers, funders and partners have decided staging Spree was neither feasible nor appropriate. Spree, however, like so many other national cultural events, remains committed to its artists and its audience. Our national artists have served this state well, Minister. They give voice to our spirits as a nation, developing our culture, and in so doing, for the regions in particular, they have helped develop a vibrant tourist economy. The artists in my city and county are everyday people, Minister. People who enliven our lives and our souls with the gift of music, imagery, dance, storytelling and entertainment, and in so doing provide to our regional economic engine. Spree's passion for the people, the streets, the squares, the lanes and the keys of water remains undimed. The company is purposeful and presently active in exploring ways to return, with an adapted experience since September, and with the resilience to ignite support in local communities. Like many other artistic endeavours, the Spree Festival will require funding. Not token funding, Minister, as an act of charity, but rather strategic funding, advanced as a pragmatic investment. An investment in Ireland, in the hearts and minds of our people, and in the future economic recovery of our regions. COVID-19 is causing our artistic sectors to face into a period of intense introspection, but the questions being asked are largely commercial in nature. We may have a formula to estimate the economic value of our arts and cultural heritage in Ireland, but how do we measure the intrinsic value of the arts to our society? And what funding mechanism can be put in place to see it fairly supported? This is my overarching question, Minister. What value and what future supports will your department provide for the cultural and artistic sectors in Ireland? What funding parameters will be put in place to secure jobs, expertise and an artistic imagination and expression? Given the recent announcements of capital required, as called for in the Small Business Recovery Plan, the Local Jobs Alliance Report and the IBEC Reboot and Imagine Report, a figure of 15 billion euro has been identified as the funding requirement to refloat our national economy in coming months. It would appear, Minister, that the arts and cultural portfolio will require significant and additional resourcing from such investment this year and for years to come. I am joined by many in our arts and cultural communities, and in our wider tourism sector, who sincerely hope that this significant economic driver will receive now the immediate support it needs to problem solve, to innovate, to adapt and survive. Many of us await a comprehensive and extensive investment plan, Minister, from your department and your government. We hope to see the sector secured so that it can thrive into the future. We hope too, Minister, that the breadth of ambition to be deployed in your department is adequate to the challenge awaiting. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy Minister. Do you want a comment? Yeah, Deputy Shanahan, please. Yeah, thank you very much for your contribution. And in case I didn't mention it earlier in the Dáil, you mentioned social welfare supports. There is a dedicated help desk in my department for anybody, or if anybody is listening in, please avail of it if there are concerns. Just the stabilisation fund as well, and you sort of alluded to the fact that you want obviously to ensure that there is funding for the arts. And I think recovery is dependent on the rate at which the level of restrictions on economic activity can be varied in accordance with prevailing public health guidance. But my priority is to ensure that optimum use is made of available resources to sustain the sector through this challenging period. And we continue to consult, as I said, with cultural and cultural organisations. You mentioned, Deputy, as well, the Spree Festival in Waterford. I think there was 295,000 or something like that, quite a bit of money given towards that. It's not yet cancelled in any event. But, you know, obviously, festivals, you know, it is an issue for them in terms of gatherings outside. And so, you know, it can be looked at. But look, certainly if you need any assistance in our department, we can try and help you in any way that we can. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.