What is the basic income for artists scheme?
The Basic Income for the Arts was introduced as a pilot scheme in 2022 by then minister for culture Catherine Martin. .
It was initially intended to help artists whose incomes were decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some 8,000 artists applied for the basic income and 2,000 were chosen to avail of the €325 per week payments for three years.
It was initially supposed to last from September 2022 to September last year, but was extended.
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Once an artist satisfies the eligibility criteria, they are selected in a randomised process.
What difference did it make?
In an evaluation of the pilot scheme Dr Jenny Dagg, a sociologist at Maynooth University, described it as being overwhelmingly positive.
Thanks to the basic income, artists were able to spend an extra 11 hours per week on their art.
A cost-benefit analysis showed it generated €1.39 from arts-related activity for every €1 paid to artists.
Because artists were spending more time creating, they were able to boost their income by an average of more than €500 per month. There was a notable improvement in mental health for artists, she noted.
What is replacing it?
The good news is the pilot scheme will be replaced with a permanent one. Announcing the move, Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan said Ireland was a “world leader”.
Eligible artists who were on the pilot may apply for the new scheme.
Under it the weekly taxable €325 payment will be given to 2,000 artists, with one crucial caveat. The scheme will be administered in three-year cycles. In other words, an artist can apply and potentially be granted the basic income for a maximum of three years out of six.
How has the artistic community responded?
The BIA Artist’s Alliance said there was “enormous distress” among current recipients of the pilot scheme that they would not automatically be entitled to the new payment.
The alliance, made up of 65 artists who avail of the scheme, said that although it welcomed its continuation, many were now “being thrown back into precarity and deprivation and unable to afford our rent”.
“To drop supports for the 2,000 pilot participants is a waste of the State’s investment and of the artists’ momentum,” it said.
The group has called for the scheme to be retained for all current participants and extended to all eligible artists “as soon as possible”.
What is this about a ‘cliff edge’?
Social Democrats arts spokeswoman Sinéad Gibney said the Government handled the pilot scheme in a “shambolic” manner with the old scheme ending in May and the new one not beginning until September.
“Artists participating in the pilot project now facing a financial cliff edge,” she said.
“These payments are due to end this month, and it is completely unacceptable that a successor scheme is not likely to be in place until at least September.
“This has caused considerable anxiety to artists who don’t know if they will be eligible or given priority for the next phase of the scheme.”
