{"id":15468,"date":"2026-02-10T14:44:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=15468"},"modified":"2026-02-10T14:44:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:44:42","slug":"new-basic-income-scheme-for-artists-undermined-by-governments-lack-of-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/new-basic-income-scheme-for-artists-undermined-by-governments-lack-of-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"New basic income scheme for artists undermined by government\u2019s lack of planning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Plans for a new phase of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme, while welcome, have been undermined by the government\u2019s shoddy treatment of existing recipients, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Gibney, who is the party\u2019s arts spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government\u2019s handling of this issue has been shambolic, with artists participating in the pilot project now facing a financial cliff edge. These payments are due to end this month, and it is completely unacceptable that a successor scheme is not likely to be in place until at least September.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has caused considerable anxiety to artists who don\u2019t know if they will be eligible or given priority for the next phase of the scheme.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven that this gap was predictable and avoidable, it is difficult to understand the government\u2019s lack of planning. It is a slap in the face for those artists who now have to wait until applications open for the replacement scheme to learn if they will qualify.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNext month, government ministers will be relying on Irish arts and culture to open diplomatic doors for them as they travel around the world for St Patrick\u2019s Day \u2013 yet, at the same time, they are slamming the door in the face of Irish artists here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government\u2019s ham-fisted handling of this issue is inexcusable. Instead of treating artists so disrespectfully, it should be building on the pilot project and looking at ways the scheme can be expanded to reach further into the creative sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>April 10, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plans for a new phase of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme, while welcome, have been undermined by the government\u2019s shoddy treatment of existing recipients, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. Deputy Gibney, who is the party\u2019s arts spokesperson, said: \u201cThe government\u2019s handling of this issue has been shambolic, with artists participating in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[675,7,497],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-press-release","category-sinead-gibney"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New basic income scheme for artists undermined by government\u2019s lack of planning - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/new-basic-income-scheme-for-artists-undermined-by-governments-lack-of-planning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New basic income scheme for artists undermined by government\u2019s lack of planning - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Plans for a new phase of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme, while welcome, have been undermined by the government\u2019s shoddy treatment of existing recipients, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. 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