Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 78, 81, 99, 100, 120, 127, 128, 130 and 152 together. The number of questions on this issue goes to show the interest in and support for our arts in this House, which I welcome.

As Minister with responsibility for arts and culture, I am conscious of the value that this sector brings to all Irish citizens and how art is an inherent part of Ireland's cultural identity. The importance of Irish culture and art and Irish productions as a whole cannot be overstated. They contribute to individual and societal well-being, as well as to Ireland's reputation as a country with a rich cultural history and output. The intrinsic value of culture and the arts to society has been particularly evident during the pandemic.

I was delighted that as part of the economic recovery plan, I secured a commitment from the Government to prioritise the development of a basic income pilot scheme for the arts and cultural sector. This was the number one recommendation from the arts and culture recovery task force. Against this backdrop, and my own experience of the arts, funding for the basic income pilot scheme was a key priority of mine for budget 2022 and I secured €25 million to launch the pilot scheme this year.

The basic income for the arts will allow artists and creative arts workers to focus on their creative practice and to help support the arts as they recover from the devastating impact of the Covid pandemic. Stakeholder engagement has been central to my Department's response to the pandemic. As the Deputies are aware, my Department held a stakeholder consultation last month on the basic income for the arts, to provide the arts sector, those working in it and the resource bodies and representative organisations with the opportunity to engage with the policy development and share their views. Over 150 participants from 50 artists and arts workers resource and representative bodies came together to discuss the proposal and provide their views and feedback. Following the forum, I launched a public consultation on the pilot basic income for the arts on Thursday, 6 January. The consultation will remain open until 27 January. The purpose of the online consultation is to ensure that the general public, artists and those working in the arts and culture sector have the opportunity to contribute to the policy development. To date, we have received over 500 submissions on the public consultation. It is important that we get their suggestions from their experiences as artists, arts workers and members of organisations on the key issues such as the scheme's objectives, eligibility criteria, supporting emerging artists and participant responsibilities.

The selection process, application details and rate of payment for recipients of the basic income for the arts pilot scheme will be finalised following the stakeholder engagement and online consultation. However, I can confirm the following. Participation in the scheme will not be based on a means test. It will be a non-competitive process and, as such, once a person satisfies the eligibility criteria, he or she will be included in a randomised selection process. A number of unsuccessful applicants will be invited to participate in a control group to facilitate a comprehensive ex postappraisal of the pilot in due course. Proposals for the parameters of the scheme will be finalised in light of the stakeholder engagement.

Eligibility will be based on the legal definition of the arts as contained in the Arts Act, namely, that "arts" means any creative or interpretative expression, whether traditional or contemporary, in whatever form, and includes, in particular, visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture, and includes any medium when used for those purposes. There will be a number of ways of demonstrating eligibility, including but not limited to membership of a relevant representative or resource organisation. Applications will be through an online portal.

The intention of the pilot scheme is to study whether a basic income contributes to ensuring the arts sector remains intact, provides artists and creatives with the opportunity to increase their practice, minimising the loss of skills and contributing to the sector's gradual regrowth, with ongoing benefits, social and economic, local and national.

On the timeline for the launch of the pilot, the Deputy will appreciate that this is a major policy intervention requiring significant resources to develop a coherent policy and to operationalise. This is a significant undertaking and work is ongoing to develop the online portal and review the hundreds of submissions received on the topic. I have always stated that my ambition is to open the scheme for applications in the first quarter of 2022 and that remains the case. Once applications have been received, these will need to be assessed for eligibility and I expect that process would take at least six to eight weeks depending on the volume of applications. On that basis, I would expect to see the first payments issue in April. That timeline could be subject to change if the volume of applications is very high.

However, I reiterate that the basic income for the arts scheme is a key priority of mine and we in the Department are devoting as many resources to it as possible to ensure that we reach our goal of opening for applications in the first quarter.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The basic income for the arts pilot scheme will bring new life and support to the arts and cultural sector and I hope it will provide an important legacy for our artists and creatives. In addition to this measure, I have also secured continued investment of €130 million for the Arts Council in 2022. Combined, these measures will significantly contribute to the development of the arts in Ireland.

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