In what may turn out to be a far more critical move than is currently recognised, a limit of €250,000 has been placed on the amount of earnings from creative works that will be tax exempt from now on.
In a speech today, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and the Arts, John O'Donoghue expressed confidence that there would be no adverse reaction to the provision.
"I believe that the level at which the exemption mechanism is now pitched will continue to encourage artistic activity in this country. There will be no flight of either activity or income," he argued.
However, the reaction from within the industry was less sanguine. "Suddenly Ireland is a far less attractive place for very successful artists and songwriters to base themselves," a leading industry source observed.
"Someone like Joe Elliott came here because of the exemption, and he would certainly have been earning more than €250k in relevant income, in the better years of Def Leppard.
"The point is that he lives here now, he has a studio that he has made available to younger artists who need it and he has contributed a huge amount of his earnings to the Irish economy just by being here and spending money. Everything he buys here, there's 21% VAT on, just for a start. Plus, he pays tax on his recording and touring income.
"What we want is more of these guys living and working here – not less. But the attractiveness of coming here has been largely lost in this one stupid move. It's crazy, because this is gesture politics. How much will they actually collect in tax as a result of this? Very little.
"But what we will lose, if they go ahead with this," the source added, "is something of immense value – the perception of Ireland as a place where artists are genuinely encouraged and appreciated, and to which successful artists, writers and composers should migrate. This is a real step backwards for the creative industries here, make no mistake about it."
In another budget day development, Denis Desmond's Gaiety Investments is among those in receipt of Government largesse, with a commitment from the department to fund what the Minister called "the substantial refurbishment of the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin." The amount that will be spent is unspecified. Meanwhile, the Minister's speech does imply a commitment on the part of the Gaiety to house performance of operas – though again, the nature of the commitment is unclear.
The full text of the Minister's speech can be found here