Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the sports men and women, teachers, coaches, creative artists and other workers across the country who make our lives so much better by sharing their imagination and energy with us. We are a different country because of that and in many ways that is what sets us apart. There are a huge range of issues in the Department. We are jumping from RTÉ to post offices to arts, etc. I will not get a chance to ask all the questions I would like.

I would like to zero in on the basic income for artists scheme and the challenges of rolling out its successor scheme. The initial scheme was a pilot, which was due to end in August. The Minister has announced that another version of that will come. When will we see the make-up of that? Will it just be another pilot of 2,000 based on the numbers that were applied in the first instance? Will it be changed in terms of the diversity and the make-up of those? Will the basic income awards to be granted be about the same?