Analysis: All are beneficaries of Irish cultural policies announced on budget day, such as the Artists' Exemption, Aosdána and Percent-for-Art schemes
As Budget 2026 looms, it is tempting to solely focus on big ticket items like cost-of-living measures and infrastructure announcements. But the budget is also a major moment in the cultural life of the State insofar as it communicates the vision, plan and priorities for the State. This is perhaps clearest when it comes to the State's approach to culture itself. Ireland has a long history of innovative cultural policies announced on budget day and introduced through subsequent Finance Acts.
Artists' Exemption scheme
The inspiration of the writer and cultural advisor Anthony Cronin, the Artists' Exemption scheme was introduced in 1969 by then Minister for Finance Charles Haughey. It allows for certain creative works of "merit" to be exempt from income tax and it has arguably become the State's signature cultural policy.
The scheme is famous for making Irish residency even more attractive to international artists such as DBC Pierre, Elvis Costello and Frederick Forsyth. Not without controversy, it was long seen as disproportionately helping better off artists until a revision in 2006 put a limit of exemption on the first €250,000 of profits or gains. In 2014, this was lowered further to €50,000.
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From RTÉ Archives, Augustine Martin interviews Anthony Cronin for an episode of Writer In Profile in 1976
The exemption’s somewhat elastic understanding of "artistic merit" - which has seen former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern amongst others, benefit from the scheme - and its exclusion of emerging art forms have also drawn criticism. In 2022, the total number of artists availing of this scheme was 3,842.
Aosdána
Another policy inspired by Cronin and announced by Haughey in March 1981 is the truly unique Aosdána. Established as "an autonomous affiliation of artists" to honour (both financially and ceremonially) artists whose work has made an exceptional contribution to Irish culture, the 250 members are determined by peer-nomination and for life. Members are eligible to apply for financial assistance known as a cnuas, currently worth €20,180 per annum and a select group of no more than 70 may be conferred the status of saoi where upon they are presented with a gold torc by the President.
Unsurprisingly, the scheme has been criticised for its exclusivity and elitism and lack of diversity both in terms of membership identity and artistic discipline. However, the bod has become more inclusive in recent years in both regards.
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From RTÉ Archives, RTÉ News' report on the inaugural meeting of Aosdána in 1983
Tellingly the scheme was not tied to a specific budget line item in 1981, but funded through the Arts Council's allocation. As Pat Cooke has noted, Haughey’s interest in the arts "did not extend to long-term planning or the slow haul of legislative change." Both policies were "delivered as political coups de théâtre, embedded within existing legislative arrangements." These "grand gestures" ultimately serve to distract us from the chronic and continued underfunding of the arts and culture more generally.
Percent-for-Art
Initiated by the OPW, and introduced in 1978 when George Colley was the Minister for Finance, the Percent-for-Art scheme has evolved significantly and has become a cornerstone of Ireland’s public art infrastructure. In 1986, the Department of the Environment introduced a parallel Artistic Embellishment Scheme and these schemes were combined and expanded across all government departments in 1997 following the PART Report.
Under the scheme, up to 1% of the cost of any publicly funded capital, infrastructural and building development can be allocated to the commissioning of a work of art. While not entirely unique to Ireland, the scheme is responsible for thousands of artworks in schools, hospitals, and other public buildings across the country, not to mention turning the motorways into an open art gallery. Disappointingly, a recent audit of the scheme revealed poor management practices, incomplete implementation and long delays in delivery.
Recent years, particularly since the pandemic, have seen significant increases in public cultural expenditure, from €206.5 million in 2017 to €384.5 million in 2022. This rise includes increased funding for national cultural institutions, record allocations for organizations like the Arts Council and Fís Éireann, the continuation of the Creative Ireland Programme and initiates such as the shared island cultural cooperation fund. Arts Council funding, for example, has risen from €80 million in 2020 to €140 million last year.
These increases, while certainly welcome, ought to be contextualised in terms of significant inflation and decades of underfunding. Speaking at Culture Night this year, President Michael D. Higgins emphasised "the need for continued support" for the arts in Ireland. Culture, he added, should never be "treated as something peripheral or residual".
Basic Income for the Arts
The most notable and internationally groundbreaking Irish cultural policy of recent years is undoubtedly the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme. It was a key recommendation of the Covid-19 Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce and a longstanding goal of the National Campaign for the Arts and Visual Arts Ireland.
The scheme was launched by then Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin in 2022 and provides a weekly payment of €325 to 2,000 artists. Initially set for a three-year pilot, it was extended until next year by the current Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan. Following a public consultation this summer, a decision on the scheme’s future is expected in this year’s budget. Notably the Minister and Tánaiste Simon Harris have already indicated that they support extending the scheme.
Central to the scheme is its research agenda. Reports from the scheme have revealed a range of benefits including improved mental health of participants, increased artistic practice, impressive economic returns, a reduced reliance on social welfare and greater security for participants.
The value of evidence for cultural policy in Ireland cannot be overestimated. There is no single, centralised statutory and co-ordinated database and evidence centre for the arts and culture in Ireland as there is in education. In contrast, the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre in the UK, led by Newcastle University, provides independent and authoritative evidence and policy advice.
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From RTÉ News, report on the basic income scheme for artists
Here, individual organisations such as the Arts Council, National Irish Visual Arts Library and the Digital Repository of Ireland produce a range of valuable research outputs but it can be difficult to get an overall picture of sectoral trends. This scheme’s demographic research is thus an important feature.
The Basic Income scheme is notable in its contrast to other innovate Irish cultural policies in that its directness and broadness are its virtues. If it is to be retained, extended or expanded, it ought to include other workers in the wider cultural ecosystem, such as curators, technicians and arts facilitators. Policy documents are but one pillar of social change. If Ireland is to innovate in the area of cultural policy it needs to recognise that effective and enabling policy requires communication, the establishing of networks and ongoing management informed by research.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
