Sinn Féin TD and arts spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh has encouraged the government to continue the basic income for artists scheme.
The scheme, which was launched in August 2022 on a trial basis, has benefited around 2,000 artists and creative arts individuals with payments of €325 a week since August 2022.
The trial is due to conclude in August of this year, and opposition parties have urged the government to keep it.
In March, Green leader Roderic O’Gorman, whose party introduced the scheme during their last stint in government, said “it’s a very strong campaign” and hoped the scheme would be kept.
Now, Ó Snodaigh has joined the opposition ranks in wanting the trial to be extended or made permanent.
The Dublin South Central TD said that artists need clarification and to ensure there is no “cliff edge” for artists currently availing of the scheme in the event the government decides not to continue with the scheme.
Minister for the Arts Patrick O’Donovan stressed that the research phase of the pilot scheme is still ongoing and that his department hopes to have a clear answer by the end of the summer.
Minister O’Donovan said that the preliminary data has shown that the basic income for the arts payment is having a “consistent, positive impact across almost all indicators.”
“Artists in receipt of the support are typically able to devote more time to their art, produce more pieces of work and experience a boost to their well-being through greater life satisfaction and reduced anxiety, and are protected from the precariousness of incomes in the sector to a greater degree than those who are not receiving the support.”
He said, “I assure Deputy Ó Snodaigh and the sector that I fully appreciate the importance of basic income support for artists.”
“I know there is broad-based support for the basic income for the arts research project in the House. I will be meeting shortly with the National Campaign for the Arts to hear its views on the scheme in detail. My officials met with the campaign on 25 April. I am acutely aware that the pilot is due to conclude in August, and it is my intention to make an announcement on the next steps in the coming weeks,” he stated.
The scheme is widely seen as one of the positive legacies of the Greens’ most recent stints in government, with the scheme championed by former arts Minister Catherine Martin, who lost her Dublin Rathdown seat in November’s general election.
O’Donovan said, “I am conscious of the concerns that people in the scheme have. I pay tribute to my predecessor in this area, Catherine Martin, who did a huge amount of work to initiate the whole concept.”
“It was born out of a time when the country was bedraggled, with Covid and everything else, but it has proven its worth in terms of the qualitative and quantitative amount of work that can be produced by people who, as I said in the earlier part of the response, are protected from worry about the precarious nature of their finances.”
Ó Snodaigh commented, “the real question is the timeline. These reports are needed before an assessment can be fully made as to whether to continue this or extend it. While these reports are due at some stage between now and, I presume, budget day, can we be assured there will not be a cliff edge where the scheme ends and the funding finishes altogether?”
“If that happens, those on the basic income scheme will see it end within the three years, and there will be no additionality income for them or income for those who are expecting to go on another scheme.”
In Sinn Fein’s manifesto for the 2024 general election, the party said that the Basic Income for the Arts pilot was a “welcome attempt at empowering artists to create and has proved a lifeline for many.”
“It will be up to the next government to develop a long-term scheme based on the research and how it compares to other supports for artists both here and overseas, and it is important that the final scheme that emerges is fair and inclusive, tackles barriers artists face in terms of income, time and access, and empowers the disenfranchised to create and perform, including disabled artists who were effectively discouraged from the pilot.”
“Irish writers, actors, composers, and musicians are not receiving fair remuneration and royalties compared with counterparts from other jurisdictions as highlighted by Irish Equity, and art workers face challenges in the form of blacklisting, a lack of workspace, artificial intelligence, and in the case of certain artforms, exclusion from Arts Council support.”
The party said that in the event they got into government, they would continue the three-year Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme to completion and “use the vital research to develop a sustainable and equitable long-term scheme.”
Ó Snodaigh said there is concern among artists about the scheme’s continuation.
He said that the assessment is being carried out between now and Budget Day in October, which he notes is a “very tight timeframe.”
“If it falls, potentially at the end of August, that means there will be no basic income for artists until the budget gives effect to a new one or to something else.”
The concern is this very tight timeframe. In the initial roll-out, it took many months for new participants to be assessed. If it were to be rolled out again, it would create a lacuna at the end of August rather than a continuation, a new round of another 2,000 artists or an extension of it.”
O’Donovan stated it would be a “regressive” move if the government got rid of the scheme.
“My basic premise is to get the scheme, a scheme, or a version of the scheme continued; it would be very regressive if we did not have it,” he told the Sinn Féin TD.
“I look forward to hearing the suggestions of the Opposition and I will engage with spokespersons, including Deputy Ó Snodaigh, off-line and outside of the House on their views on this and how the scheme could be changed, altered and improved.”