Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Demand for the basic income for the arts pilot research scheme has been very strong with just over 9,000 applications received by the closing date of May 12^th. 

I am very encouraged by the level of interest from artists and creative arts workers interested in participating in the pilot scheme.  Assessment of the applications has begun and this process will take at least 6-8 weeks given the high volume of applications.  Once assessed for eligibility, all eligible applicants will be entered into an anonymised random sampling process to choose the 2,000 scheme participants.

The pilot scheme is a three year research programme to evaluate the impact of a basic income style payment on the arts sector.  The pilot will also have a control group of up to 1,000 applicants to provide for comparative analysis between the treatment and control group.  A data baselining survey of all participants in both the Treatment and Control Groups will be conducted prior to payments starting, to provide the starting point/baseline for the research.

Some specific data on the applications received includes:

- Gender: 48% of applicants were female and 48% were Male. This is 50:50 when other/prefer not to say options are excluded. The CSO’s 2020 Population Projections have a ratio of 49.8% female and 50.2% male. The applicant cohort is as-expected and aligned with the general population.

- Geographical Location: Applications have been received from every county. 37.1% of the applications overall came from Dublin. 62% of all applicants identified as Urban dwellers and 38% as Rural. Table One provides a full breakdown by county.

- Art Form:Visual Arts and Music account for 63.9% of all applications, Table Two provides a breakdown.

I am very pleased with the huge level of enthusiasm for the basic income for the arts pilot scheme and am delighted that over 9,000 artists and creative arts workers were willing to participate in this innovative research project. This heralds a new approach to the way the State funds and recognises her artists and I look forward to seeing the data and findings of the research during the pilot.