Social Democrats' Sinéad Gibney on Basic Income For the Arts: "The government’s handling of this issue has been shambolic"

Social Democrat TD Sinéad Gibney has criticised the government’s implementation of the new Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) programme.

Minister for Culture Patrick O'Donovan announced the the permanent programme at a press conference on Tuesday, following a three year pilot that began in 2022. The programme is set to give 2,000 artists €325 every month, with the aim of supporting artists by reducing their financial insecurity.

The pilot ends next month, with applications for the permanent programme opening in May, which may leave some artists without the support of the programme in the interim.

“The government’s handling of this issue has been shambolic, with artists participating in the pilot project now facing a financial cliff edge,” said Deputy Gibney, the party’s arts spokesperson. “These payments are due to end this month, and it is completely unacceptable that a successor scheme is not likely to be in place until at least September. This has caused considerable anxiety to artists who don’t know if they will be eligible or given priority for the next phase of the scheme."

“Next month, government ministers will be relying on Irish arts and culture to open diplomatic doors for them as they travel around the world for St Patrick’s Day – yet, at the same time, they are slamming the door in the face of Irish artists here,” continued Gibney. “Instead of treating artists so disrespectfully, it should be building on the pilot project and looking at ways the scheme can be expanded to reach further into the creative sector.”

Approval for the plan was measured by the department's largest ever public consultation. Of its 17,000 respondents, 98% of them expressed approval for the permanence of the plan.

"Artists on the scheme spent more time creating, producing more work, and spent less time trapped in unrelated jobs just to survive," said Peter Power, a member of the National Campaign for the Arts' Steering Committee. "[B]asic income isn't about paying people to do nothing. It's about removing the instability so people can contribute culturally, socially, and economically. It's about recognising that creative work is work. A society benefits when people are supported to do what they do best."

The pilot programme also showed “over €100 million in terms of social and economic benefits” according to Minister O’Donovan. On Tuesday, the Minister expressed his wish to expand the weekly rate and number of artists supported, should more funding become available.

"It might not be perfect in everybody's book," he said, "but this is a gigantic step forward that other countries are not doing."