Analysis: The socioeconomic benefits of supporting artists through this scheme is worth €100 million to Irish society
Ireland was in the international spotlight for its arts and culture policies last week as the Government announced that the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme was set to become permanent. The scheme grew out of the pandemic, which had a stark impact on the cultural and creative sectors. It was the first sector to close and the last to open up. Large numbers of artists and creative professionals were left adrift with no work and no income, revealing the depth and scope of the insecure nature of work within the sector.
Artists and creative professionals are highly educated (86.5% have attained a third level education, compared to 53% in the general population) but earn low-pay. The nature of their work can be a mixture of self-employment, freelance and part-time work. Many combine two or more jobs, or do not have a permanent contract, meaning they are often excluded or only partially covered by social security protections.
From RTÉ News, Government announces a new and permanent Basic Income for the Arts scheme in Budget 2026
In response to all of this, Ireland adopted a transformative policy measure to protect and support creative practice, one that recognises the intrinsic value of culture but also retains the social and economic impact. The basic income pilot scheme was introduced by Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin in 2022. Over 8,000 applicants across art forms applied for the scheme and 2,000 applicants were randomly chosen to receive an unconditional payment of €325 a week over a period of three years (extended to February 2026).
The payment is reckonable income for the purpose of tax and social protection payments and is treated as earnings from self-employment. For research purposes, a control group of 997 participants not in receipt of the basic income was established. Every six months, both recipients of the payment and the control group complete an extensive survey about their professional and personal lives to monitor the impact of the basic income scheme.
The positive impact of the scheme for recipients materialised quickly. After two years on the scheme, artists increased the time spent on their creative practice each week by 11 hours. Employment patterns shifted as recipients report over three hours less time working outside of the arts compared to the control group. Importantly, the scheme alleviated the constant struggle to make ends meet with a 20% reduction (from a high of 56% in 2022) in the likelihood of experiencing enforced deprivation and significantly reduced levels of anxiety or depression.
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From RTÉ Six One News, how the basic income for the arts scheme is having postive effect
The Cost Benefit analysis showed that artists increased their monthly arts related expenditure by €333 and their arts related income by on average over €500 per month. Meanwhile, their income from non-arts work decreased by around €280 and dependence on social protection declined. All of this means that artists' ability to continue their creative practice and complete work, remain in the sector and engage with their audience was strengthened by the scheme and has transformed their lives.
What impact does this have for wider society?
The headline takeaway from the cost benefit analysis is that society received €1.39 in return for every €1 of public money invested in the pilot. The socioeconomic benefit of supporting artists to complete new work, participate more and feel more confident and assured is valued at over €100 million to society. In a recent public consultation on the retention and expansion of the BIA, 97% of the wider public and the arts sector supported making the scheme permanent.
Turning to what a new scheme should look like, 47% of the 17,000 responses think that recipients should be selected based on economic need, 37.5% think they should be selected based on track record/merit, and a further 14% prefer to maintain the random selection. More than 50% of respondents think the current level of payment at €325 is about right, while 44% think it is too low and indicated that someone should be in receipt of the basic income for 12 years, while the median value for this response is five years.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime in 2022, Minister for the Arts Catherine Martin discusses the introduction of the basic income for the arts scheme
On budget day, Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport Patrick Donovan announced that the scheme would be retained on a permanent basis and that 2,000 new applicants will be supported on a new scheme, possibly extended to 2,200 recipients, subject to government approval. This announcement was heralded by all who campaigned within the sector as a small victory, while details of a new scheme have yet to be announced.
The long and short of it
The difficulty ahead is the impact of this scheme on the sector in the short and long term. In the short term, not all eligible applicants will receive the support and once again there will be division between those who are supported and those who are not. Will those who have already been in receipt of basic income be exempt from reapplying to the new scheme? Will it move away from the principles of universal basic income and introduce conditionality? Who will be responsible for overseeing the scheme?
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From RTÉ Brainstorm, all you need to know about basic income
There are now also many long term questions around cultural policy. Now that basic income for the arts is permanent, how will cultural policy respond to an increase in aspiring creatives? Will the scheme meet the standards for a living wage? The research shows it is currently supplementary income, and artists report being unable to get by on basic income alone.
Will basic income for artists be a permanent support or a supplementary tool to help artists build sustainable practices in a market driven economy? Most importantly, now that the scheme is permanent, how can we invest in the infrastructure that enables artistic work to happen? These and other questions will need to be addressed as the scheme is made permanent within the sector.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
