Ms Jacinta Brack:

In terms of the initial rolling out of that scheme being a lottery, a lot of the time we are looking at how Travellers are not included in those more mainstream strategies, research samples and national population samples, and there would be a merit to having a cohort of some of those or setting a quota within all of those strategies. For instance, I know offhand of two Travellers who applied under that scheme but they were not successful in the lottery, let us say, so there is a question of how Travellers broadly are viewed in terms of being artists already working in the sector.

One of the issues that arises is where there is 20% disability in the community. Some have advocated for changes to the income thresholds in that regard because then they are losing their payments from another social protection measure. There are structural obstacles generally in the system and the basic income living for artists would have to be viewed in that context. It is a very broad-stroke measure. If you consider that it will include groups with additional needs, then that has to be met whether in disability or something else.