Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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3. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way that she plans to support the recovery of those artists who do not receive the basic income for artists for the three years of the pilot scheme. [22466/22]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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This question relates to those who will not be successful in availing of the basic income for artists scheme when the adjudication or selection is made after the scheme closes next week. What additional supports are being made available for all artists who are suffering, have suffered through the Covid-19 pandemic and suffered prior to the pandemic in terms of income?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The basic income for the arts, BIA, is a pilot scheme, the outcomes of which will inform future policy on the manner in which the State provides supports to artists. The Department expects a high volume of applications and it will not be possible to provide funding to all eligible applicants. The pilot scheme will run over a three-year period and the intention is to research the impact a basic income would have on artists' creative work patterns by providing the opportunity to focus on their practice, recognising the value of the unpaid element of work that goes into creative practice, to minimise the loss of skills from the arts as a result of the pandemic and to contribute to the growth of the sector. The overarching objective of the scheme is to address the earnings instability that can be associated with the intermittent, periodic and often project-based nature of work in the arts. The scheme will research the impact on artists' and creative arts workers' creative practice of providing the security of a basic income, thereby reducing income precariousness.

Funding for the scheme will allow for approximately 2,000 eligible applicants to participate in the pilot research scheme. Selection will be a non-competitive process. Once an applicant satisfies the eligibility criteria he or she will be included in an anonymised random sampling process to determine the pilot recipients from the pool of eligible applicants for the BIA pilot. In addition, up to 1,000 eligible applicants who were not selected to receive the payment will be selected to participate in a control group to facilitate the evaluation of the pilot. Control group participants will respond to the same survey and data requests as those in receipt of the payment to help assess the impact of the payment as compared with those not in receipt of it. As part of the application process, applicants will be asked to indicate if they do not want to participate in the control group. Control group members will be paid two weeks basic income for each year of the pilot scheme to compensate them for the time required to engage in the data collection process.

I am very cognisant of the challenges faced by the arts, culture and live entertainment industry as the sector recovers post pandemic. To this end, a €50 million suite of supports for the live performance sector was delivered in 2022 to provide performance and employment opportunities for artists and crews. I might have a chance to outline those later.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I got no answer there to my question. I hope the Minister of State will be able to come back to it, because he appeared to be getting to the nub of it. It is welcome that 2,000 artists will avail of the new scheme. It will be interesting. Those in the control group will receive €650 for being in the group over a full year, which is also welcome. However, that leaves many thousands more artists who will continue to struggle after the pandemic, as they had prior to it. What are the plans to support their recovery, additional to the basic income? Will the Minister of State outline how he will address the poverty and the failure of incomes for artists throughout the country into the future?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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When the basic income pilot scheme was announced, it was always going to be for a specific cohort that was selected as I referred to in my initial reply. However, the supports for the arts and culture sector secured in 2022 are very clear. There is €25 million for the basic income scheme for artists and arts workers. We are maintaining the Arts Council allocation at a record level of €130 million. This allocation allows the Arts Council to continue to protect the jobs and livelihoods of artists and to assist arts organisations through financial difficulties.

There is €50 million for further supports in 2022 for the live entertainment industry as this important sector emerges from the devastating impacts of the pandemic. There is a more than €6 million increase in funding for Screen Ireland from its initial allocation in 2021 to more than €36 million. There is €5 million additional funding for the national cultural institutions, which will ensure they provide high quality services to the public, and €4 million to deliver a suite of initiatives proposed by the night-time economy task force, including a new scheme for pubs and cafes to broaden night-time economy activity across the country. There is €5 million to support the 2022 commemorative programme.

The Deputy can see that there have been unprecedented allocations to support the arts and culture sector in addition to progressing the pilot scheme, which was a key policy objective.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith ag an Aire Stáit. That was the answer I was hoping for but which I did not get in the first round. I wish those on the scheme well when it starts. It is to be hoped that we will learn lessons from it that can be addressed.

The previous question addressed some of the pitfalls that have already been outlined. A total of €25 million is being diverted to 2,000 artists. I want to ask about additional money rather than the same money. Has additional money been set aside for other artists who do not avail of the scheme and who can apply for additional grants as we come out of the pandemic? Most of the money the Minister of State announced was ring fenced for the pandemic to try to ensure some artists living in poverty who had no other source of income could survive.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I was halfway through the supports for 2022 and I will now give other details on additional supports. There is €50 million for the live performance restart grant scheme to support the recovery of the live performance sector. There is €4 million for the music and entertainment business assistance scheme. This is specifically to support small music and entertainment businesses that do not operate out of rateable premises. There is €5 million for local authorities to support local artists and performers through the local live performance support scheme. This scheme in particular has provided thousands of hours of employment for local musicians, artists and crews. There is €5 million to continue the capital support scheme for venues, including for ventilation upgrades and other Covid adaptations.

As the Deputy has seen from what I referenced in the previous response, from the unprecedented funding to the Arts Council, funding for the national cultural institutions and additional support for the live entertainment sector, there is unprecedented support in many funding streams. Artists will see a real benefit from these through this year. The fact we have the basic income pilot happening, which has been called for and spoken about for decades, puts the arts on a positive trajectory in the coming years.