{"id":399339,"date":"2026-04-15T07:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/399339\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:28:07","slug":"basic-income-for-arts-scheme-causing-segregation-and-open-to-abuse-officials-told-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/399339\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic income for arts scheme \u2018causing segregation\u2019 and open to abuse, officials told \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elements of the Basic Income for the Arts<\/a> (BIA) scheme are causing \u201csegregation in the artistic community\u201d and allowing some people to take advantage of the system, officials have been told as a new round of funding opens<\/a> for applications. <\/p>\n

Under the pilot scheme, 2,000 artists received \u20ac325 per week from September 2022 to February 2026. Successful applicants were randomly chosen from about 8,000 applications.<\/p>\n

A new scheme, set to run from 2026 until 2029, was announced in February. Applications open on Wednesday and close on May 12th.<\/p>\n

This extension was broadly welcomed but some artists criticised elements of the scheme in correspondence sent to the Department of Culture<\/a> in recent months. <\/p>\n

One artist said the duration of the pilot caused \u201csegregation in the artistic community\u201d as recipients enjoyed \u201ccareer progression and vastly improved mental health\u201d while others were left without support.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Fairness of basic income for arts scheme under scrutiny as new funding round opensOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has caused an increase in precariousness of artistic pursuit for non-recipients, and pressure to leave [the] sector, contradicting the initiative\u2019s intentions,\u201d the person wrote. \u201cA very unfair and unlevel playing field has evolved in the arts between a privileged minority and a disadvantaged majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another artist said \u201cthe lack of clear performance monitoring\u201d enabled some people to take advantage of the scheme. This person said their housemate, a BIA recipient, \u201chas been out of the workforce for two years, and does not appear to be actively engaged in any creative practice\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Basic Income for the Arts is now permanent. But for artists who apply, the money is notOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a working artist myself but, like many others, I must maintain full-time non-arts employment to cover basic living expenses. It is deeply frustrating to see vital support provided unconditionally when I know dedicated artists … are struggling immensely.\u201d<\/p>\n

This person said BIA recipients should have to provide periodic updates \u201cdetailing active engagement with their art form\u201d.<\/p>\n

Minister for Culture Patrick O\u2019Donovan<\/a> in February said the BIA made Ireland \u201ca global leader in the area of artist supports\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elements of the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme are causing \u201csegregation in the artistic community\u201d and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[89080,147595,42,43,6232,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-399339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-basic-income-for-the-arts","tag-department-of-culture-communications-and-sport","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-patrick-o-donovan","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399339","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=399339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}