Reports this week that Minister for Arts Patrick O’Donovan supports the continuation of the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme will be welcomed by the sector. Introduced on a pilot basis by the Minister’s predecessor, Catherine Martin, in October 2022, the scheme provides a payment of about €325 per week to 2,000 full-time artists selected by lottery from a larger group of 9,000 applicants. The intention was to gather robust data on whether such payment delivered meaningful benefits to the working practice of participants.
Virtually every political party in the Dáil committed during last year’s election campaign to the BIA’s continuation. But there was more ambiguity on the matter in the Programme for Government. That was perfectly reasonable as the data required examination before any decision could be made. But it caused disquiet among artists’ groups as the expiry date in August approached.
The Minister has now confirmed he will seek funding to “extend and expand” the BIA. His comments follow the release of a report which found it “significantly impacts the subjective experience of financial uncertainty in the lives of recipients”.
The scheme is a response to the fact that precarity and low incomes are a reality of life for many professional artists. This diminishes their ability to reach their full creative potential. It also acts as a barrier to entry for those from economically marginalised backgrounds, perpetuating the stereotype of the arts as a middle-class playground. For these reasons, the basic income is an imaginative and positive addition to more traditional funding mechanisms such as the Arts Council.
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The challenge for O’Donovan and his officials will lie in redefining the scheme and securing the necessary funds. How many artists will be supported in future and will their participation be time-limited? The BIA currently costs the department €35 million per year, compared to spending of €300 million overall on arts and culture, so any expansion could have significant budgetary implications. None of this should be insuperable, though, and the Minister has made the right call.
