Artists' Remuneration Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-08 ============================================================ Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal I thank the Senator for raising this Commencement matter on an important initiative for the State and the Government, that is, the basic income for artists scheme. It is a once-in-a-generation policy intervention that has the potential to transform the lives of artists, as confirmed by the research published during the pilot. Last year, the Department conducted a public consultation on the basic income for the arts. This consultation received over 17,000 submissions, with 97% of respondents in favour of making the scheme permanent. This shows that the value of the basic income for the arts is appreciated not only by those in the arts sector but also by society at large. In February, the Government agreed to make the basic income for the arts scheme permanent. This is a major milestone for the arts in Ireland. Research conducted by the Department provided the Government with a clear evidence base upon which to make that decision. With an allocation of €18.27 million for this year, the Department is in a position to fund 2,000 artists. At the launch of the new scheme in February, the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, stated that, over time, he would like to expand the scheme beyond 2,000 artists, should more funding become available in the future. The successor scheme to the basic income for the arts pilot saw just over 10,000 applications received by the deadline of 12 May. Assessment of applications is ongoing and will take place over the summer, with payments to 2,000 artists beginning before the end of this year. All applicants had to complete a comprehensive survey at the time of application. Those who will receive the payment will provide data on an ongoing basis. A diversity of arts practices, ages and geographical distribution is visible in the applications submitted. The data collected as part of the application is a snapshot of the sector in 2026 and will be a great resource for the Department in developing future policy for the arts. A report setting out this data will be published in due course. Compliance with eligibility will be continuously recorded and assessed throughout the time a recipient receives the payment. All successful participants will need to register with Revenue as self-employed and pay Schedule D income tax where appropriate on basic income for the arts payments. The goals of the scheme are to incentivise the development and growth of professional creative practice through self-employment; to counter the earnings instability and precarious nature of working in the arts and the detrimental effect it has on an artist’s well-being; to foster artists’ agency and safeguard freedom of expression; to retain talent in the sector by reducing the need for artists to work outside of the arts for economic reasons; to support and expand the sector thanks to spillover effects including hiring of collaborators, expenditure on materials and emergence of new projects; to support social cohesion and societal well-being by creating more opportunities for citizens to engage in the arts and to offer a larger selection of artworks and performances to enjoy; and to recognise the contribution of artists to a pluralistic society and their contribution to the vibrancy of communities across the nation. It is a significant departure. It is an innovative and welcome scheme. I agree with the Senator on the prioritisation that the previous Minister, Catherine Martin, gave to developing the pilot. It is something that the current Government and I as Minister of State in the Department are very committed to. It is a wonderful opportunity. The objective will be to see how it can be built on. The pilot in the first place was a significant step forward, as was the decision this year to put it on a permanent basis. From this year on, we will see 2,000 people as a baseline participating in it. We will monitor it and see its impact. It is a significant decision by the State in recognition of the importance of the arts and the role artists play in our national civic life and cultural life. We will see how we can continue to build on the recognition and prioritisation we are giving the arts through the basic income for the arts scheme. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-08/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:10+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-08