Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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152. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position regarding her plans to introduce a basic income pilot for artists given the delayed tender to facilitate stakeholder engagement; if that stakeholder engagement has taken place to date; if not, when it will take place; and if she will direct the Arts Council to introduce a hardship fund in the meantime given that the basic income pilot is still being developed to ensure artists struggling to pay bills and repay mortgages as a result of the impact of pandemic restrictions on their work are adequately supported until such time as the industry can fully recover. [55154/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I was delighted that as part of the National Economic Recovery Plan, I secured a commitment from Government to prioritise the development of a Basic Income Guarantee pilot scheme for the arts and cultural sector. As Minister with responsibility for Arts and Culture, I am conscious of the value that this sector brings to all Irish citizens.  The importance of Irish culture, Irish art and Irish productions as a whole cannot be understated - it contributes to individual and societal well-being, as well as contributing to Ireland's reputation as a country with a rich cultural history and output.  The intrinsic value of culture and the arts to society was particularly evident during the pandemic.

Against this backdrop, and my own experience of the arts, funding for the Basic Income Guarantee Pilot Scheme was a key priority of mine for Budget 2022 and I secured €25m to realise the pilot scheme next year. 

In relation to the timeline for the launch of the pilot the Deputy will appreciate that this is a major policy intervention requiring significant resources to develop a coherent policy and to operationalise.  This work is ongoing and my ambition is to open the scheme for applications early in Q1 2022. The Oversight Group continues to meet regularly and met yesterday with a representative from SIPTU.

The selection process for recipients of the basic Income will be finalised following the stakeholder engagement early next month, however, I can confirm the following: 

- Participation in the scheme will not be based on a means test.

- It will be a non-competitive process, therefore once a person satisfies the eligibility criteria they will be included in a randomised selection process.

- A number of unsuccessful applicants will be invited to participate in a control group to facilitate a comprehensive ex post appraisal of  the pilot in due course. 

- Proposals for the parameters of the scheme will be finalised in light of the stakeholder engagement.  

I believe the Basic Income Guarantee pilot scheme will bring new life and support to the Arts and Cultural Sector and I hope it will provide an important legacy for our artists and creatives.

From the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, the Arts Council has been focused on protecting jobs and livelihoods of artists and arts workers, assisting arts organisations experiencing financial difficulties, working to encourage audiences to re-engage with in-person events in a safe environment, and supporting and developing the sector more broadly.

As part of Budget 2022, I have maintained the Arts Council allocation at the record-level of €130m. With this ongoing strong public funding in 2022, the Arts Council is empowered to play a strong role in supporting artists and arts organisations to flourish in the years ahead.