Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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519. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for details of what policies, schemes and employment or training opportunities are in place to support and promote the development of a non-commercially oriented artistic skills base in Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25514/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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One of the core policies of my Department is to enhance access to and to recognise the social and economic role of the arts, culture and film sectors in Ireland by promoting and encouraging artistic expression, cultural awareness and participation through an appropriate policy, legislative and resource framework.

As defined by Section 2 of the Arts Act 2003, ‘‘arts’’ means any creative or interpretative expression (whether traditional or contemporary) in whatever form, and includes, in particular, visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture, and includes any medium when used for those purposes.

The Arts Council is the national agency for funding, developing and promoting the arts in Ireland and it works within the framework of the Arts Act 2003. Primary support for the arts in Ireland is delivered by the Arts Council and funding to the agency has increased steadily in recent years, reaching a record high of €140 million in 2025. The Arts Council operates within a published ten-year strategic framework entitled Making Great Art Work. The Arts Council supports and develops the arts in Ireland through grant funding, project awards, support to individual artists, and support to venues, publications and resource organisations. The Arts Council supports artists and arts organisations to take artistic risks. Work of this kind is typically non-commercial and requires public subsidy. This supports the making of work and the engagement of audiences with work that would otherwise not be financially viable.

In addition, the Basic Income for the Arts pilot research scheme is currently underway and data from the pilot will feed into Government consideration of the next steps. While the research phase of the pilot scheme is still ongoing, it is clear from evidence collected to date under the scheme that it is having a positive impact on participants. This data shows that the BIA payment is having a consistent, positive impact across almost all indicators - affecting practice development, sectoral retention, well-being, and deprivation. The cost of Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot scheme is €35m for a full calendar year for 2,000 artists to participate, with each recipient receiving €325 a week for the duration of the scheme. €35m was allocated in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025.