Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

Aontú has supported the scheme from the outset. The reason we have done so is that, unfortunately, poverty and the arts are often synonymous. People who work in the arts probably have the most precarious work that exists in the country. Their lived experience is often the direct opposite of people's understanding of the glamour of the arts. The difficulty I have with this is that we have a project that has been going on for three years and we still do not have a decision on it from the Government. Absolutely we need time to evaluate and to make a decision but I have been long enough around here to have noticed that difficult decisions are often kicked down the road. I have a worry that only one quarter of the people who need this particular payment are in receipt of it. Now we will see another nine months pass without a decision being made on their experience. Theirs is probably the only sector of society which should get an income but whose income is decided on a random basis. It would be great to crystallise the decision as soon as possible.

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