Opening statement by Minister Martin at the Seanad on 'Safe to Create' Programme

Check against delivery

Dia daoibh a chairde. Is mór on onóir dom a bheidh anseo inniu. Go raibh maith agaibh as cuireadh a thabhairt dom teacht chuig Seanad Éireann inniu. Tá sé go hiontach an deis a fháil léargas a thabhairt daoibh ar chlár Sábháilte le Cruthú.

I am very pleased that you the members of Seanad Eireann are engaging with the crucially important initiative - Safe to Create. A new programme for the arts and culture sector which I launched last month.

SAFE TO CREATE is a Dignity at Work programme. It is the culmination of our work to date on dignity at work, led by programmes such as Speak-Up and Call it out; Speak Up - A Call for Change, and Minding Creative Minds. I emphasise that it is “our work to date” because although we are at the cutting edge of action in this area, we are really only getting started.

The aim of the Safe to Create programme is to transform culture and practices in the arts, culture and creative sector through raising awareness, training, information, voluntary compliance and certification so that we can provide safer working conditions for artists and arts workers as well as providing key support for victims/survivors in the areas of reporting, counselling, and legal advice.

My department works in partnership with the Irish Theatre Institute, the Arts Council, Screen Ireland and Minding Creative Minds to deliver the Safe to Create programme. I provide annual funding to the Irish Theatre Institute and to Minding Creative Minds to deliver their services to the creative sector.

The Safe to Create platform provides an effective, user-friendly, online Dignity at Work Toolkit for organisations and individuals in the creative sector including:

• ‘Know your rights’ Information for artists and arts workers
• free counselling, legal assistance and 24/7 helpline for artists and arts workers
• resources for organisations including legislation, codes, policies, sample HR procedures and templates
• a Code of Behaviour and Dignity at Work Trust Statement
• Sign the Code: Online register for organisations and individuals to formally sign up to the Code of Behaviour and publicly declare their commitment to implement it
• training to address Dignity at Work issues

Safe to Create is available to all individuals and all organisations in the Irish Arts and Creative Sector. I encourage Senators to explore the website (www.safetocreate.ie) and view the range of information, training and resources. The website, like the programme itself is evolving as additional information, services and resources are added.

The Safe to Create programme emerged from Irish Theatre Institute’s SPEAK UP initiative. In 2021, I engaged the Irish Theatre Institute to carry out an anonymous survey which attracted over 1,300 respondents. A year ago, the findings of the survey were published under the title Speak Up: A Call for Change along with a set of recommendations. The report’s stark findings confirmed that there was a culture of harmful workplace behaviour throughout the Irish arts sector, and a worrying lack of supports to tackle this issue. When I launched the Speak Up: A Call for Change Report last year, I assured all of the respondents to the survey that their voices had been heard. The Safe to Create programme is built on, and informed by, the findings and recommendations in the Speak Up report and particularly on the areas where artists and arts workers said they needed change and support.

With the Safe to Create programme, we in the arts are leading the way in improving and transforming damaging norms for the benefit of all in the creative sector. Together we can ensure creative spaces are safe, and those working in the sector are treated with dignity and respect.

I am pleased to have secured additional funding of up to €500,000 in Budget 2023 for The Safe to Create programme. The planned supports will include:

• the resource-rich website featuring practical information, guidance, toolkits and templates for artists, arts workers and organisations regarding ‘Dignity at Work’ rights and responsibilities
• the Wellbeing and Support Service is provided by Minding Creative Minds for victims of harmful behaviours, including one-on-one counselling, access to legal advice and a 24-hour trauma helpline
• the training programme has been developed specifically for the arts and creative sectors on Dignity at Work issues. These include the topics of tackling bullying and harassment, addressing unconscious bias, bystander training and intimacy training that have been created in partnership with Screen Ireland
• the Code of Behaviour that organisations are asked to adopt is an important element of this programme. It has been developed to help enable arts and creative organisations to create workplaces free from bullying, harassment and intimidation of any kind and reassure artists and arts workers that their employers are publicly adopting the code. The Code is on the Safe to Create website, along with a register that organisations and individuals can formally sign. The aim is to embed this industry-wide Code of Behaviour in the sector to:

o Proactively encourage a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude to all of the negative behaviours;

o Commit to investigate complaints in a timely fashion;

o Raise awareness of what constitutes damaging behaviour; and

o Encourage all workers to undertake training

• there are workshop roadshows currently happening throughout the country called Code on the Road to provide information for individuals and support for organisations to utilise and implement the Safe to Create supports and Code of Behaviour. The first Code on the Road took place in Cork last week
• a ‘Report to Support’ is anonymous reporting system, designed to provide a facility for those working in the arts and creative sectors to report incidents of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment without the need to identify themselves or disclose sensitive and personal details. Information collected via the “Report to Support” pilot will be aggregated twice annually and will be used to inform the development and delivery of additional Dignity at Work supports such as training, policies, legal supports and counselling. This information will also inform the new research planned for 2023 and beyond. The Safe to Create website has information on steps individuals can take to make a formal or informal complaint on individual experiences
• a research programme of further study will examine the prevalence and impact of harmful behaviours in Ireland’s arts sector, and to measure the impact of the Safe to Create programme. The lead researcher is currently undergoing an analysis of what methodology to use going forward that will be more inclusive of the intersectionality of ethnicity, disability, sexuality and their influences of harm within and across Ireland’s arts sector
• Monitoring and Compliance will be led by funding bodies the Arts Council and Screen Ireland, and by my department. Organisations found not to be providing a safe working environment for artists and arts workers risk disallowing themselves from future funding streams

The Arts Council is introducing a condition that all funded organisations must adopt and implement the Safe to Create Code of Behaviour as well as undertake relevant online Safe to Create training. Screen Ireland similarly requires full legal compliance to all health and safety in the workplace and employment legislation. In addition, they require their funding recipients to maintain Dignity at Work policies that include appropriate action and grievance procedures to address employee complaints.

In the coming months, my department and the Irish Theatre Institute will be working in partnership to implement and promote these supports, to monitor the impact of measures taken and to collaborate with appropriate agencies to build effective monitoring, accountability and oversight mechanisms for harmful behaviour in the workplace in the arts sector in Ireland.

Since becoming Minister for the Arts, I have recognised the importance of wellbeing for the creative sector. Minding Creative Minds is a free 24/7 mental health and wellbeing support programme for the Irish Creative community and includes access to the following services:

• advice
• counselling
• legal advice
• assistance
• financial and budgeting advice
• career guidance and life coaching
• mediation

Minding Creative Minds has recently enhanced its services to include specialist trauma and abuse counselling care and support for victims of serious trauma and sexual abuse, in association with Spectrum Life.

With additional funding provided by my department, Minding Creative Minds also plans to provide access to new therapies in 2023 in addition to the mental health and ancillary supports it already offers. It also plans to develop and roll out a specific app for the creative sector that will readily enable users of the 24/7 wellbeing service to contact or chat with a qualified counsellor or psychotherapist. In addition, they aim to further expand its Mentoring Programme which has proved very successful with 500 career mentoring hours to date.

The Safe to Create programme is a step on the road to transforming workplace culture and practices and to provide safe and respectful working conditions for those working in the arts. However, we know that harmful behaviours are not confined to the arts sector. In order to enact real change, cross-governmental cooperation is required. That is why my department has been working closely with colleagues in the Department of Justice.

The Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, was launched on the 28 June by my colleague, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. The Strategy incorporates the implementation of the Safe to Create programme and it is listed in the Implementation Plan. This Third National Strategy will cost €363 million and is built on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention framework and the accompanying implementation plan contains 144 detailed actions for implementation this year and next. This implementation will be ensured by strong oversight and coordination at central government level.

A key element of delivering on the goal of the Strategy is the establishment of a statutory Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency under the aegis of the Department of Justice. This agency, to be set up in law, will be tasked with coordinating all government actions set out in this Third National Strategy.

As Minister, I am asking all parties in the arts, culture and creative sectors to engage with Safe to Create. Organisations sign the code and demonstrate the sector wide desire to make our workplaces safer. And to everyone working in the sector at every level, employee and self-employed, as well as those on Boards, I encourage you undertake and be certified as having completed three free online training courses:

• addressing unconscious bias
• tackling bullying and harassment at work
• bystander training

Before I conclude, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of the stakeholders involved who worked closely with my department to make the Safe to Create programme happen - the Irish Theatre Institute, Minding Creative Minds, the Arts Council and Screen Ireland.

Also of note is the Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media; ‘A Safe and Respectful Working Environment in the Arts’ – it is closely aligned with the Irish Theatre Institutes SPEAK UP report and I believe most of its 11 recommendations are being or will be addressed by the Safe to Create programme. I sincerely thank the Committee for their support and engagement on this important issue.

In particular, I thank the individuals who responded to the SPEAK UP survey -Your courage reminds me of the Jane Austen quote: “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” Let me say to those who responded, it your courage that has brought about positive change for the entire creative sector.

From the outset, as Minister for the Arts, I wanted to send out a clear message that Dignity in the workplace is the right of every artist and arts worker. While we know that these issues are not confined to the arts sector, through the Safe to Create programme we are working hard to change damaging behaviours. During this process I have heard first hand that people have been suffering great trauma and harm.

Inaction is inexcusable. I hope that this extensive programme of supports will encourage other sectors to follow suit.

As the old Irish Proverb goes; ‘Anáil na beatha an t-athrú’ - Change is the breath of life. Tá sé tábhachtach go dtapóimid an deis seo anois le hathruithe a chur i bhfeidhm chun áit shábháilte oibre a chinntiú dóibh siúd ar fad atá ag obair in earnáil na n-ealaíon in Éirinn, anois agus sna blianta amach romhainn.

Go raibh maith agat.