Basic Income for the Arts scheme extended with funding of €35 million in 2025. Payments of €325 per week are being made to 2,000 eligible artists and creative arts workers, who have been selected at random
https://www.hotpress.com/culture/budget-2025-basic-income-for-the-arts-scheme-extended-with-funding-of-e35m-23052540
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From the article: As part of Budget 2025, announced today, almost €380 million is set to go to arts and culture. €35 million will go to what Minister Catherine Martin has referred to as “the world-leading” Basic Income for the Arts – funding the initiative beyond the end of the three-year pilot scheme.
Launched in 2022, the pilot scheme is examining the impact of a basic income on artists and creative arts workers over a three-year period. Payments of €325 per week are being made to 2,000 eligible artists and creative arts workers, who have been selected at random.
Last week, arts organisations presented a petition, featuring 10,000 signatures, calling for the Basic Income for the Arts to be retained, extended and expanded.
Scott Santens, a notable US-based advocate of universal basic income, welcomed the scheme’s extension this afternoon: “I hope this also leads to more serious discussion of UBI in Ireland!”
The Screen Composers Guild of Ireland also responded to the “excellent news”, stating that the Basic Income for the Arts scheme “has had a life changing impact on SCGI members who have participated in the pilot.”
This is just a good idea. The arts are notoriously difficult to properly finance and absolutely bring value to a society that can be hard to quantify.
But this has nothing to do with UBI. It’s just a subsidy. Just calling it “basic Income” to try and capture some media attention.