The Arts Council will not see a substantial increase in its funding until Prof Niamh Brennan's comprehensive report into the organisation has been completed, Minister for Culture Patrick O'Donovan has confirmed today.
The council's current budget of €140 million will not rise substantially until the minister has seen the report and reviewed the recommendations he said.
"I'm awaiting publication of the report into the issues that were laid out on my arrival into the department" he said. "I hope that by the time we gather for Budget 2027 here, we will have moved on the from that and the Arts Council allocation will be a lot different," the minister stated.
He added however that it would be "premature quite honestly to see an increase in the allocation this year, without that work being finished."
The minister confirmed that he had met the Arts Council last week, and that he had outlined his position to them and how he thinks that "we have to wait for the report first."
The Arts Council meanwhile has welcomed the "continued support" from the Government and says it welcomes the ongoing "close collaboration with the department."
In relation to the Basic Income for the Arts scheme, Minister O'Donovan confirmed that the government has built on its commitment in the Programme for government that the scheme will be on a "permanent footing,"
The minister pointed to background research work that his department had compiled that affirmed the positive impacts of the scheme, which sees 2,000 artists and members of the wider artistic community receiving a weekly payment of €325.
The Basic Income for the Arts scheme was rolled out as a three year pilot in 2022, and the minister confirmed that while that phase of the scheme will cease in February 2027, there will be discussions with colleagues and arts community representatives to develop a new version of the scheme that will be put on a permanent footing.
While there will be a gap of "up to six months" and no final budgetary figure pledged for the scheme, Minister O'Donovan was keen to point out that securing it was a positive development.
"We are going to take learnings from the first iteration of the scheme and then it will be up and running in the second half of next year" he stated.
Minister Jack Chambers also announced that the 2026 allocation of €357 million to broadcasting will include provision for €65.4 million for TG4, including a €5.4 million increase to ensure "high quality Irish language content, children's programming and expanded news services."
He also stated that the funding will support "the continued delivery of the reform and transformation agenda" in RTÉ.
An enhancement to the section 481 Film Tax credit to provide for a "new 40% rate of relief for productions with a minimum of €1 million" of eligible expenditure on relevant visual effects work was also announced in the budget today.
The rate will apply up to a maximum of €10 million per production, Minister Paschal Donohoe said.
The digital games sector, meanwhile, will benefit from the extension of the Digital Games Tax Credit for six years to the 31 December 2031.
The credit will "allow for claims in respect of post release content work" where the original game availed of the Digital Games Tax Credit, the minister said.
