The extension of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme is welcome, but Budget 2026 lacks detail, timelines, and confirmation of whether artists with disabilities will be accounted for, according to Social Democrats arts and culture spokesperson Sin\u00e9ad Gibney.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gibney said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI welcome that the Basic Income for the Arts scheme will be extended and a permanent scheme will be established, however, questions remain about the future of the scheme.<\/p>\n
\u201cRevelations from Arts Minister Patrick O\u2019Donovan that there will be a months-long gap between the end of the pilot and the beginning of the permanent successor scheme risks undermining the transformational impact of the scheme on the artists in the pilot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey now face an end to their basic income, with a vague promise of being able to reapply next year – reassurance for their financial security was absent from the Minister’s contributions yesterday, who instead told them to \u2018bear with me and toughen on for a while.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThe announcement that the scheme will only be allocated \u20ac18 million next year, a decrease from the 35 million allocated to the pilot, is concerning – this does little to allay concerns that the successor scheme will be smaller or less comprehensive in its support for artists.<\/p>\n
“For artists with disabilities, there are additional barriers to accessing the basic income scheme – without a formalised income disregard for artists with disabilities, they face losing their medical cards, their disability allowance, and the supports which make it possible for them to live their lives and create art.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis issue remains unresolved.<\/p>\n
“The extension of funding is positive, but it is cold comfort for artists facing an end to their basic income in February – many arts groups, as well as the Social Democrats Alternative Budget, put forward a strong case for expansion that seems to have fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus needs to be on how the successor scheme can be introduced as soon as possible, and expanded beyond the relatively small number of artists on the pilot – the point of Basic Income for the Arts is to bring certainty to a precarious sector, but Budget 2026 has left artists once again with the same uncertainty they have suffered for months.<\/p>\n
Supporting the arts is often overlooked and deprioritised as unimportant or non-essential spending – this discounts the major impact it has on our economy, our society, and its positive contribution to our lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the roaring success of the scheme\u2019s pilot and its positive economic impact, we’re seeing a half-hearted commitment from the government to its future.\u201d<\/p>\n
October 8th, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The extension of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme is welcome, but Budget 2026 lacks detail, timelines, and confirmation of whether artists with disabilities will be accounted for, according to Social Democrats arts and culture spokesperson Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. Deputy Gibney said: \u201cI welcome that the Basic Income for the Arts scheme will be extended […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[675,735,7,497],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-budget-2026","category-press-release","category-sinead-gibney"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n