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

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter in a period when Covid-19 has effectively closed down the arts and culture sector. The restrictions have severely affected the livelihoods of many artists and creative workers. The limitations on indoor and outdoor events, social distancing and travel restrictions have had a severe impact on the arts, culture, live entertainment and events, with grave consequences for those working in these sectors. Many careers that have taken decades to build are now threatened and in serious jeopardy.

At a broad level, the Government has already responded to the challenges facing the sector through a number of recent measures, which the Senator mentioned. Considerable additional funding was secured for the sector in the context of the July stimulus, culminating in such events as the stunning performance this weekend of Happy Daysby Landmark Productions at the Olympia Theatre. I do not know whether the Senator saw it. Further significant additional funding was announced in budget 2021, with €130 million added to the Arts Council budget for 2021 and €50 million made available for supports for live performance. Tens of millions of euro in support has been provided to those impacted in the arts, culture, performance and events sector through the pandemic unemployment scheme and various wage subsidy schemes.

The arts and culture recovery task force report to which the Senator referred, entitled Life Worth Living, outlines ten recommendations for the sector. These include a proposed mechanism for the rolling out of the universal basic income, UBI, through the establishment of a pilot project that would last three years.

In addition to the recommendation of the task force, there is, as the Senator said, a prior commitment in the programme for Government to assess a pilot UBI — one that is informed by a review of previous international models. This matter is now being considered in the context of the national economic plan being developed by the Department of the Taoiseach, and it will ultimately be a matter for consideration by the Low Pay Commission.

The rationale behind the recommendation to introduce a basic income pilot is to create a more stable social protection mechanism to allow artists and events workers to sustain themselves during the pandemic and to take up work when it arises without losing existing social protection supports. Many creative practitioners and allied workers are freelance, moving frequently between self-employment, PAYE employment and periods of no employment at all. The pattern of low-paid and insecure employment has been exacerbated by the inevitable changes and uncertainties arising from the implementation of the recommendations in Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19.

The pilot UBI could act to keep the sector intact, minimising the loss of skills and contributing to its gradual regrowth, with ongoing benefits, social, economic, local and national. UBI encourages entrepreneurship as people who are in receipt of it can take on work and earn additional taxable income on top of it.

The arts sector represents an appropriate area for a UBI pilot scheme for the following reasons. It is characterised by low and precarious income. It involves significant positive externalities. It includes a broad mix of employment types, and it has been chosen for UBI pilots in other jurisdictions, allowing international comparisons to be drawn, just as the Senator referred to what happens in France.

The task force also recommended an interim extension of the professional artists on jobseeker's allowance scheme. The current scheme acknowledges the status of self-employed artists as professionals, giving them a 12-month window to focus on building up their work before becoming subject to labour market activation.They are exempted for a year from the activation process which is mandatory for most jobseeker's allowance recipients. This scheme gives important support to professional artists who lose their employment and serves a different purpose from the UBI.

On a personal level, after a considerable amount of time and energy from the Green Party's negotiating team, I was delighted to secure a commitment in the programme for Government to a pilot UBI initiative. UBI has been a core policy of the Green Party since the party's foundation. The Government obviously involves three political parties. Needless to say, the Senator is very much pushing an open door with me when it comes to the introduction of UBI in Ireland. Perhaps he could assist to ensure his focused enthusiasm for the UBI is replicated across the other parties in government, and delivery of this programme for Government commitment is not only realised but strengthened.