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

Before I answer, I acknowledge the devastating developments overnight in Ukraine. As the Minister, Deputy Coveney, said earlier, we utterly condemn this act of unjustifiable war and our hearts and thoughts are with the people of Ukraine.

The basic income for the arts pilot scheme will run over a three-year period and the intention is to research the impact a basic income would have on artists' and creatives' work patterns by providing the opportunity to participants to focus on their practice and to minimise the loss of skills from the arts, as a result of the pandemic. Stakeholder engagement has been core to the policy development process and this included a stakeholder forum on 15 December 2021 and a public consultation throughout January.

The impact of such a scheme on artists with disabilities is a theme that has been raised throughout the consultation and I can assure the Deputy that it is a matter I take very seriously. I want to ensure that all artists, including those with a disability, can apply to participate in the pilot.

The Department of Social Protection was a member of the oversight group I established last year tasked with appraising the recommendations set out in Life Worth Living report. That group met eight times last year and the Department of Social Protection attended each of those meetings. In addition, an interdepartmental working group, including the Department of Social Protection, was established to support the work of the oversight group. It met seven times last year and the Department of Social Protection attended each of those meetings.

In addition, bilateral engagement between the two Departments on the treatment of the basic income for the arts payment has been ongoing, with at least seven meetings over the past number of months.

In particular, discussions around the treatment of the grant payment for the purposes of income disregards across a number of social welfare schemes, including disability allowance, are ongoing.

I assure the Deputy that the issue of artists with disabilities is something on which I am focused. I believe the basic income for the arts has the potential to help artists and creative arts workers with disabilities overcome labour market barriers by creating a self-sustaining creative practice operating on a self-employed basis.

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