Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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20. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the progress that has been made under the basic income for the arts pilot scheme; the uptake to date by county and sector, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47259/22]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Just over three weeks ago applicants were informed if they had been selected for the basic income for the arts scheme.  This was a historic day marking a significant change to the way in which Ireland recognises and supports her artists.  As Minister with responsibility for Arts and Culture, the basic income has been one of my key priorities.  

Over 9,000 applications were made under the scheme with over 8,200 assessed as eligible according to the published guidelines for the scheme.  Eligible applications were then included in a randomised anonymous selection process to choose the participants.  This process was overseen by EY acting as an independent verifier. Over 8,200 eligible applicants were included in the anonymised randomised selection to select the 2,000 BIA recipients and the control group of 1,000 participants.

The 2,000 recipients includes representatives from all art forms, age groups, ethnicities and counties.  This includes 707 visual artists, 584 musicians, composers and songwriters, 204 artists working in film including actors, screenwriters, directors and cinematographers, 184 writers and poets, 173 actors, writers and directors working in theatre, 32 dancers and choreographers, 13 circus artists and 10 architects.  3% or 54 of those selected work through the Irish language.

This is a research project and the main element of the research programme is a longitudinal study with the same survey being delivered every 6 months for 3 years. The data collected as part of the research will inform future Government policy in relation to how best to support artists. 

The process of applicants accepting their places on the scheme will be finalised shortly and payments will begin soon.  The table provided shows a breakdown of the geographical location of all applicants offered a place on the scheme.  This may be subject to minor change in the event that any artists do not accept the offer of a place on the scheme.