Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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499. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated full year cost of funding for the arts to 0.6% of GDP and 0.6% of GNI*. [41258/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The 2020 preliminary figure for Ireland's Gross Domestic Product at current market prices as published by the Central Statistics Office on 15 July 2021 is €372,869 million and 0.6% of this is €2,237 million. 

The equivalent figure for Gross National Income at current market prices published on the same date is €283,735 million and 0.6% of this figure is €1,702 million.

Full details are available at www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-nie/nie2020/mainaggregates/

The Deputy may also wish to note that the European Union publishes data on the share of general government expenditure on cultural services, broadcasting and publishing services.  This is based on data gathered by Eurostat as part of the data collection exercise on government expenditure.  Under this process, the general government sector is defined as consisting of institutional units which are non-market producers whose output is intended for individual and collective consumption, and are financed by compulsory payments made by units belonging to other sectors, and institutional units principally engaged in the redistribution of national income and wealth. The general government sector comprises central government, state government, local government and social security funds.

The latest published data, for 2019, can be found at  ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Culture_statistics_-_government_expenditure_on_cultural,_broadcasting_and_publishing_services&oldid=524139.  It shows that the general government expenditure on cultural services, broadcasting and publishing services in Ireland in that year was in line with the EU average.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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500. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated full year cost of providing artists, musicians and live entertainment workers a basic income of €350 per week. [41259/21]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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543. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the planning made for the introduction of a universal basic income for all artists; when it will commence; the persons in the art world that can avail of it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40571/21]

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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587. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the pilot project of basic income for artists; if a timeline has been established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41391/21]

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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588. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if comedians will be eligible for inclusion in the pilot project of basic income for artists. [41392/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 500, 543, 587 and 588 together.

The Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce report Life Worth Living, was published in November 2020 and made ten recommendations for the sector.The recommendations included a proposal to pilot a basic income scheme for a three-year period in the arts, culture, audiovisual and live performance and events sectors.

I was delighted that as part of the Economic Recovery Planlaunched on June 1^st, I secured agreement from Government for a Basic Income Guarantee pilot scheme for artists. The Government recognises that bold steps are necessary for our invaluable and much treasured arts community to come back stronger than ever before.

I have recently established an Oversight Group with the remit of addressing the outstanding recommendations of the Life Worth Livingreport. The membership of the Group is drawn from Departments and Agencies which have the ability and wherewithal to make appropriate progress on the outstanding recommendations, including the Basic Income Guarantee pilot.

The Oversight Group held its first meeting on May 27^th chaired by my Department and joined by representatives of the Departments of Finance, Social Protection, Public Expenditure and Reform as well as Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The Directors of the Arts Council and Screen Ireland are also members alongside a representative of the County and City Managers' Association.

I have asked the Oversight Group to prioritise the manner in which a Basic Income Guarantee pilot scheme for artists will be delivered. As the work of the group has only recently begun it is too early to say with any certainty what the details of the pilot scheme will be.