2026-06-11

69. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide an update on the basic income for the arts scheme, the number of applicants by county in tabular form; the timeline for approvals and to outline if each county will be given an equitable allocation of recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44127/26]

78. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when the successor scheme to the basic income for the arts will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44454/26]

103. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when applicants for the new basic income for the arts scheme will be informed that they are selected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44508/26]

105. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if, in view of applications for the successor scheme to the basic income for the arts pilot greatly exceeding the number of places available on the scheme, if consideration is being given to expanding the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44453/26]

114. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the number of applications that were received for the basic income for the arts; and when recipients will be informed and begin to receive payment if they are successful. [43460/26]

123. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport for an update on the roll-out of the basic income for the arts scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44287/26]

I welcome the basic income for the arts, BIA, scheme and commend the Minister on securing funding to make it permanent. This is a genuinely progressive policy and is especially important to County Clare, with our rich arts tradition, from traditional music to visual arts and literature. I ask for an update on the application process, a breakdown by county and an outline of how rural counties such as Clare will be treated equally when faced with other more populated counties and urban centres.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 69, 78, 103, 105, 114 and 123 together. I thank the Deputy for his question and for his support for the basic income for the arts scheme. The main objective of the scheme is to support professional artists whose creative practice is based in Ireland. The scheme will provide 2,000 artists with a weekly payment of €325 for a period of three years. There has been significant international interest in the scheme, which clearly illustrates the value Ireland places on art and our artists here at home. Indeed, when it comes to the arts, Ireland as a small country punches well above our weight across film, music, and literature and this is in part due to the sustained investment in professional artistic practice. Funding for the arts through the Arts Council, Screen Ireland and Culture Ireland is at the highest level ever in the history of the State. In February, the Government agreed to making the basic income for the arts scheme permanent, which was a major milestone for the arts in Ireland. Research conducted by the Department provided the Government with a clear evidence base on which to make that decision. The research clearly demonstrated both how precarious and difficult it is to be an artist and the positive benefits for society as a whole, which we are all very aware of, if we invest in our artists. The pilot scheme was underpinned by a robust research project consisting of a randomised controlled trial with a treatment group of 2,000 and a control group of 1,000. The research element will continue in the successor scheme. An independent cost-benefit analysis of the pilot published late last year shows that the scheme produced over €100 million in social and economic benefits; for every €1 of public money invested in the pilot, society received €1.39 in return. The net cost of the basic income for the arts pilot went from €105 million to under €72 million due to tax generated and savings on social welfare payments. Late last year the Department conducted a public consultation into the basic income for the arts scheme. This consultation received over 17,000 submissions with 97% of respondents in favour of making the scheme permanent, showing very much the value of the scheme and how it is appreciated not only by those in the arts sector but also by society at large. With an allocation of €18.27 million for this year, the Department will be in a position to fund 2,000 artists. At the launch in February the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, stated that over time he would like to expand the scheme beyond 2,000 artists, should more funding become available in future budget cycles. We have seen strong demand for the scheme, with approximately 10,000 applications submitted. For the pilot scheme more than 9,000 applications were received. Participants are selected using an anonymous random selection process. This is considered the fairest selection process where there is not enough funding to provide the scheme to all eligible applicants. All applicants had to complete a comprehensive survey at time of their application and those who will receive the payment will provide data on an ongoing basis. The applications submitted show that there is great variety in the Irish arts sector today. A diversity of arts practices, ages and geographical distribution is visible. The data collected as part of the application is very much a snapshot of the sector in 2026 and will be a strong resource for the Department in terms of developing future policy for the arts. A report setting out this data will be published in due course. The Department has begun eligibility assessments, which will continue throughout the summer. Given the volume of applications it is difficult to be precise about the date applicants will be informed but it will certainly be September at the earliest. The first payment to selected recipients will be made before the end of 2026 and will be backdated to September 2026 if necessary. Compliance with eligibility will be continuously recorded and assessed throughout the time a recipient receives the payment. All successful participants will need to register with Revenue as self-employed and pay schedule D income tax where appropriate on the basic income for the arts scheme. This is a ground-breaking support for the arts in Ireland, as Deputy Cooney recognises, and is significant for the artists in our country. It makes Ireland a world leader in how we support our artists and culture. It will help to sustain the careers of those artists who will receive it and retain their talent in the arts sector. Applications were received from every county in the country and the county breakdown for applications will be sent separately to Deputy Cooney.

I thank the Minister. My question today is important. Will rural counties such as Clare receive an equal share of the BIA scheme? The randomised selection model is fair in principle as it ensures no bias in individual selection. However, fairness in process is not the same as equity of outcome. Clare has a proud professional arts community but artists in rural counties often lack access to the institutional networks, residencies and funding bodies that provide the proof of professional practice needed for the scheme. The structural disadvantage is real and will result in the pool of eligible applicants being skewed toward urban centres with large populations. Therefore, a random draw will still produce an urban-heavy result. How will this structural issue be resolved?

Over 10,000 people made applications for this particular round of the successor to the basic income for the arts scheme. The Department is in a position to support only about 20% of them. This means just over 2,000 artists will be supported and the other 80% will be left disappointed. This is about a similar level of disappointed applicants as we saw in the original pilot scheme launched by the then Minister, Catherine Martin. It is disappointing to see that the scheme is not growing. We welcomed at that time that there would be another round of funding coming for three years but the fact it is not growing and that more artists are not being supported and will not be able to enjoy the very real benefits of the scheme, which were charted by the research undertaken, is a letdown and I know many artists in the sector feel let down. The Minister of State referenced that continuing research will be undertaken on the impact of the financial support on the second group of artists who receive it. Will he give us more detail about what is being measured and what is being examined? Will it be the same as the first time or are other benefits of the scheme being considered? Has consideration been given to putting the basic income for the arts scheme on a statutory footing so there would be real certainty that the scheme is an established part of the State's support for the artistic community?

It is good to hear that progress is being made and that the Minister of State expects at some stage, probably in October by the sounds of it, that the scheme will start but will be backdated to September. This will mean that 2,000 more artists will benefit from a basic income and, hopefully, it will help them in their output and artistic endeavours. It is about trying to ensure that others in future can benefit and that this is rolled over. The Minister of State mentioned that €18 million has been set aside for this year. This seems to suggest that if it does not start until the end of September, or is not backdated to the end of September, there may be a surplus. Is this expected to be spent this year or will it be rolled into the budget for next year's basic income?

I will take Deputy Ó Snodaigh's question first. The budget is allocated for this year to be able to pay 2,000 applicants from September onwards. While every effort is being made to give people early decisions, the payment will be backdated to September so nobody will lose out financially by virtue of any delay in being approved. The budget will be utilised by the end of this year. To respond to Deputy O'Gorman on the scheme and its permanence, I recognise the previous Minister, Catherine Martin, and her initiative in establishing the pilot. The Government has progressed and built on it. We have made it permanent. We have been clear that this will be a permanent scheme. I do not believe it needs to be on a statutory basis for it to be a permanent scheme. We have been clear from a policy point of view and a budgetary point of view that it is something that will be continued. In terms of the specific research that will continue to be carried out, I will get Deputy O'Gorman a further response specifically on what is being measured and how it compares to previous research which was significant. Having a treatment group of the 2,000 who were in the scheme and a control group of 1,000 who were outside of it was significant research and important in relation to seeing the scheme become permanent and built upon. In relation to more participants, it is something we have indicated we would like to be able to do but it is budgetary dependent. Making it permanent is a significant step forward, as is making sure new artists and more artists are able to participate and have an opportunity to avail of it. Deputy Cooney has advocated very strongly for his county. There have been 10,000 applicants and 2,000 will be able to participate and will be successful for participating in the scheme. The approach that is planned to be taken is an anonymous random selection process. The assessment is that this is the way to be fair to all artists who have applied and to have the best possible spread representative of the number of artists who have applied. Our objective is to be fair and equal and give as many people as possible the opportunity to participate. Obviously there will be different participants this time in the scheme compared to the pilot scheme, and the objective is to ensure that as many people as possible can avail of the support. The approach will be that randomised, anonymised selection process to make sure that people have faith in how the selection is being done and everybody has an equal opportunity to benefit from it.