Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The review carried out by Theatre Forum found that 30% of performing artists earn less than the national minimum wage of €9.55 per hour that applied in 2018 due, in part, to the fact that 83% of performing artists are paid a flat fee regardless of the hours they work. While it has been the accepted that that is the nature of their work, it is unacceptable that we would expect artists who operate in one of the most important industries for which we laud ourselves in terms of how it can be used to promote Ireland globally to work for €9.55 per hour, which is less than the current minimum wage.

Budget 2019 provided an increase in funding to the Arts Council of €7 million more than the amount provided in budget 2018. The current level of funding, at €75 million, still lags significantly behind the 2008 level of €82 million. For the Government to fund the arts at the European norm, it would have to allocate in the region of five times that amount. This same adjustment would have to be made to all public arts schemes to ensure that the support reached European norms. This is what we should be aiming for.

The article by Olivia Kelly in today's edition of The Irish Times, which suggests that people are to be banned from selling their work on Merrion Square next summer, is distressing for artists. These individuals are trying to make a living, the exact topic we are discussing now, and they have been selling their work on Merrion Square for the past 35 years. According to Ms Elizabeth Prendergast, artist and secretary of Merrion Square Artists Association, this decision will be catastrophic for artists who, as I have already noted, are trying to earn a living.

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