Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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47. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on the basic income for the arts pilot scheme. [24220/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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On Monday, I hosted a conference to discuss the Status of the Artist in Ireland. It marked the launch of data from the first full year of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme. It was an timely opportunity to bring artists and the broader arts sector together to discuss the challenges facing Irish artists today. I participated in a panel on artists' supports, including the Basic Income for the Arts, which was a valuable opportunity to discuss the pilot with the sector and hear their voices on what can be done to ensure that the policy context for artists is as supportive as it can be.

The newly-published research shows that the BIA payment is having a consistent, positive impact across almost all indicators; affecting practice development, sectoral retention, well-being, and deprivation.

To give a few examples:

•each week, BIA recipients spend 8 hours more on their practice

•they spend less time working in other sectors compared to the control group

•recipients are more likely than the control group to be able to sustain themselves through arts work alone

•life satisfaction is higher for BIA recipients compared to the control group

•depression and anxiety are lower for BIA recipients compared to the control group

•recipients are less likely to have difficulty making ends meet compared to the control group

•recipients invest each month €550 more than the control group in their practice, namely on equipment and materials, advertising and marketing, workspaces, and work travel.

•recipients are more likely to have completed new works in the previous 6 months

Similar reports will be published throughout the 3-year pilot. The research programme is an important part of the pilot: it is a unique opportunity to gather data on the sector that we did not have before. In researching impacts on recipients and on the ecology of the arts, this pilot scheme has the potential to change the landscape of the arts in Ireland and how we fund it.