Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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712. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will liaise with the Minister for Social Protection to examine the supports for working artists in the social welfare system; and if she will relax activation rules for working artists to allow them to support themselves as they produce art and cultural pieces. [19721/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In December, I announced that my Department in conjunction with the Department of Social Protection would devise a mechanism during 2017 to assist self-employed artists who have applied for Jobseeker’s Allowance. I have been in contact with my colleague the Minister for Social Protection on the matter and officials of our two Departments are working on this initiative in consultation with the Arts Council. The scheme will be a pilot scheme and is part of the Creative Ireland Programmelaunched in December. Details of the pilot scheme will be announced shortly.