{"id":291840,"date":"2026-02-11T05:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T05:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/291840\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T05:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T05:46:11","slug":"ireland-is-a-global-leader-in-the-area-of-artist-supports-because-of-the-bia-government-announces-new-basic-income-for-the-arts-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/291840\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ireland is a global leader in the area of artist supports because of the BIA’: Government Announces New Basic Income for the Arts Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the announcement<\/a> last October that the government would establish a permanent Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme, Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O\u2019Donovan TD, has today (10 February) outlined a number of the\u00a0details.<\/p>\n

The announcement states that practising artists based in the Republic of Ireland will be able to apply for the scheme and two thousand artists will be selected to receive the payment of \u20ac325 per week. Guidelines on applying for the new BIA will be published in April, the scheme will open for applications in May, and payments will begin before the end of this\u00a0year.<\/p>\n

The payment will be for three years and will also feature a tapering-off period of three months at the end. The new BIA will operate in three-year cycles with artists being eligible for three out of every six years. This means that if selected for the 2026\u20132029 scheme, an artist won\u2019t be eligible for the subsequent cycle, but may reapply for the cycle after\u00a0that.<\/p>\n

Those who were on the original pilot scheme, which ran from September 2022 to February 2026, and who meet the eligibility criteria for the new scheme, will be able to apply again in\u00a0May.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the new BIA, Minister O\u2019Donovan\u00a0said:<\/p>\n

I am delighted to be announcing that the new BIA scheme has today been approved by Cabinet and will open for applications in May of this year. This is a major milestone for the arts in Ireland and how we support the arts. I am particularly pleased that the research<\/a> my Department conducted provided Government with a clear evidence base upon which to make that decision. Ireland is a global leader in the area of artist supports because of the BIA.<\/p>\n

The pilot scheme was launched by the previous Minister for the Arts, Catherine Martin, in 2022 following the pandemic, and was accompanied by an extensive research project that demonstrated the scheme\u2019s benefits.\u00a0Research showed that artists are able to devote more time to their art<\/a>; produce more pieces of work<\/a>; have\u00a0greater life satisfaction<\/a> and reduced anxiety<\/a>; and are\u00a0protected from the precariousness of incomes in the arts sector<\/a> to a greater degree than those who are not receiving the\u00a0support.<\/p>\n

The results of an external cost-benefit analysis<\/a>\u00a0last September found that for every \u20ac1 invested in the pilot, society receives \u20ac1.39 in\u00a0return.<\/p>\n

Peter Power of the Steering Committee for the National Campaign for the Arts commented today that the \u2018Basic Income for Artists is a landmark commitment by the government to invest in Ireland\u2019s arts industries.\u2019 He\u00a0added:<\/p>\n

The introduction of the Basic Income for the Arts underscores the premise that Government investment in the arts yields myriad positive benefits to society from economic, health, mental wellbeing, education, societal cohesion, diversity, and inclusion, to creativity, critical thinking, innovation, entrepreneurship, global reputation and more. We look forward to its implementation and expansion to include all eligible artists and arts workers in the coming\u00a0years.<\/p>\n

A survey last September showed\u00a097% public support for making the BIA permanent. Minister O\u2019Donovan secured\u00a0\u20ac18.27m in last October\u2019s government budget to support the\u00a0scheme.<\/p>\n

For further details on the announcement, visit www.gov.ie<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the announcement last October that the government would establish a permanent Basic Income for the Arts (BIA)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-291840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}