Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)

I propose to takes Questions No. 6, 20, 23, 26 and 32 together.

The basic income for the arts is a pilot research programme which will inform future Government policy on how best to support Ireland’s artists and creative arts workers. The primary objective of the scheme was to help artists deal with precarious incomes and prevent talent from leaving the sector for economic reasons. It is well established that artists suffer from precarious incomes and the benefits of the arts enjoyed by society are often as a result of unpaid and underpaid labour of artists. This is a chronic ongoing problem.

The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for the arts pilot research scheme to maximise its impact, which is why I announce an extension of six months to February 2026 to allow further assessment of the pilot data and to engage in stakeholder consultation to provide a clear evidence base for the Government to make decisions on the next steps.

The BIA recognises of the arts and the role of the creative practice in Irish society. The arts positively impact social cohesion, societal well-being, Ireland’s global reputation and creativity. The BIA has particularly good regional distribution across the country with every county benefiting from the investment and some counties like Leitrim, Clare and Sligo have more artists than would be expected based on their populations bringing much-needed economic investment to those areas as well.

BIA support is hugely valued by those artists in receipt of it. It has been the subject of much positive commentary at home and in an international context and makes an important statement about the value placed on the arts in Ireland.

I fully appreciate the importance of the BIA and have been clear that I think it should be continued. There has been consistent correspondence to my Department in support of a successor scheme. Much of this support has come through the constituency offices of all colleagues both in government and in opposition. It is therefore clear that there is broad support for a continuation of the BIA. My Department conducted a public consultation which closed on 5 September and over 17,000 submissions were received. Of these, 97% were in favour of the BIA being continued.

Consultation is ongoing, including a consultative committee which draws from across Government Departments. I also held a sectoral stakeholder forum on 10 September with around 200 artists, all of whom were in favour of retaining the scheme.

The BIA has been implemented as a randomised control trial which consists of two groups of randomly selected people, all of who complete a lengthy survey every six months as a condition of a participant being on the scheme. This represents the largest randomised controlled trial undertaken by the Government, the gold standard for research. Some 2,000 recipients were selected to receive a payment of €325 a week, while a further 1,000 control group members were selected to participate in research. Analysis of the results involved the comparison of averages between the two groups across a very broad range of possible impacts.

The same cohorts of recipients have remained on the scheme since 2022 in order to gather accurate comparable data. Due to attrition, the total number now on the scheme is 1,962. The pilot is underpinned by a comprehensive research programme and three impact assessments have been published so far by the Department in addition to independent reports on recipient reviews.

It is clear from all of the evidence collected to date under the scheme that it is having a positive impact for those in receipt of it. The data shows that the BIA is having a consistent positive impact across all indicators affecting practice development, sectoral retention, well-being and deprivation. However, the data also shows that the situation of the control group participants who provide the same data as the recipients but who do not get the weekly payment have significantly deteriorated given the cost-of-living crisis.

According to the data the Department has collected, 51% of those who do not receive the BIA live in enforced deprivation compared to 16% of the general population. The BIA is therefore a means of addressing consistent poverty in the sector.

The data also shows that at the start of the BIA the median income earned by those on the scheme was €19,200, which is 54% lower than the national annual median of €41,823. At the same time, recipients’ arts-related income increased by on average over €500 a month, while their income from non-arts work increased by about €280.

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