Public consultation shows overwhelming support for permanent Basic Income for the Arts scheme

The Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, has today announced the headline findings of a public consultation on the Basic Income for the Arts initiative, which show 97% of the wider public and the arts sector support making the scheme permanent.

More than 7,600 responses were received from members of the public, and more than 7,400 responses were received from artists not in receipt of the payment. In addition, almost 75% of current recipients also completed the survey.

47% of the over 17,000 total respondents think that recipients should be selected based on economic need, while 37.5 % think they should be selected based on track record/artistic merit. A further 14% prefers random selection.

More than 50% of respondents think the current level of payment (€325) is about right, while 44% think it’s too low. On average, respondents have indicated that someone should be in receipt of BIA for 12 years, while the median value for this response is 5 years.

The public consultation was open from 12 August to 5 September.

Minister Patrick O’Donovan said:

“I want to thank all the people who have taken the time to make their views known on this scheme. This is possibly the largest response to a public consultation conducted in this Department. I am heartened to see that members of the general public make up a large share of respondents, showing that BIA is appreciated not only by the arts sector but also by society at large. My Department is currently analysing the large volume of responses, with a view to prepare a public consultation report.”