Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for artists pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. The basic income for the arts pilot research scheme will conclude in August this year and the data from the pilot will be fed into the Government's consideration of the next steps. Recipients have been receiving payments and responding to surveys under the scheme since August 2022. Some 2,000 artists and creative arts workers have benefited from the payment of €325 a week since August 2022. There were over 8,000 eligible applicants for the scheme and the 2,000 recipients were chosen through an anonymised random selection process. In budget 2025, the Government made an allocation of €35 million for the basic income for the arts scheme in 2025. It is important to note that the pilot is a research programme and that no decision has been taken as to its continuation. The research evaluating the impact of the pilot scheme is ongoing and it is a priority for me to ensure the research is completed to assess and maximise the impact of the scheme ahead of budget 2026.

While the research phase of the pilot scheme is still ongoing, it is clear from the evidence collected to date under the scheme that it is having a positive impact on the participants. The latest data is available through published reports on the basic income for the arts website on gov.ie. This data shows that the scheme payment is having a consistent positive impact across almost all indicators affecting practice development, sectoral retention, well-being and deprivation. Artists in receipt of the support are typically able to devote more time to their art, experience a boost to their well-being through greater life satisfaction and reduced anxiety, and are protected from the precarious nature of incomes in the sector to a greater degree than those not receiving the support. I will shortly publish a qualitative research paper on the scheme and work is starting to undertake a cost benefit analysis for a more complete assessment of the impacts of the scheme. A Government decision will be required on a successor scheme to the pilot and the future of the scheme will be decided when the final results of the research are available. These will provide the Government with the evidence base upon which to base future policy decisions about the basic income for the arts.

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