Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There was a promise a number of years ago by, I believe, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, who was under pressure from the campaigning by the arts sector, that arts spending would be doubled. I doubt that has happened. Maybe the Minister could comment on this. Our percentage of GDP spent on arts is significantly less than the European average, so we have a long way to go even if there have been some improvements as a result of the campaigning by arts workers in recent years.

I do not believe that the gathering of research means there is no need to expand the scheme. We could expand the value of the research. There were 8,000 applicants for the scheme, but only 2,000 people got on it. It is clearly improving the situation for arts workers, whose starting point was not good. The situation is still blighted by precariousness and insecurity of employment and income. Why not expand the scheme now? That would align with the commitment given previously to substantially increase the amount of money going into the arts sector.

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