Mr. Pádraig Naughton:

They are means tested and this is a really big issue. Essentially, once the money hits the artist's bank account it is regarded as capital means. It is very concerning issue. Let us consider, for example, a new work award from Arts and Disability Ireland, which is a scheme we manage on behalf of the Arts Council, worth €15,000, a very small proportion of that may go to the artist as fees. Most of that money will go to pay other artists and other creatives, for materials and venue costs, and for all the other costs associated with making a project happen but still we have a situation where all of the money is regarded as capital means. This is particularly troubling with regard to blind pension for which the capital means allowance is €20,000, whereas for disability allowance it is €50,000. The number of people who are on blind pension is relatively small. I believe it is roughly 10% of all people with disabilities who receive money from Department of Social Protection. The material difference in actually equalising those capital means thresholds by bringing them all up to €50,000 would be a minimum solution but it would be a start. Arts and Disability Ireland is doing some work around auspicing services, which is an Australian system whereby an organisation would hold money on behalf of artists and spend that money on their behalf. If we could move to that position it would be particularly useful, not just for people on disability allowance or on the blind pension, but also in the case of invalidity pension where those claimants are not allowed to earn income. There are complex issues but there are ways that we can try to address these.