'Ireland could lead the way' says minister on new artist weekly income payments.
A weekly income of €325 has begun to be paid to 2,000 artists, musicians, writers and performers by the Irish government.announced by the Irish government in January.Over 9,000 people applied to the scheme and the 2,000 receiving the income were selected anonymously and at random.The Basic Income Scheme for those working in the arts was originally recommended by a taskforce set up by the Irish Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, Catherine Martin.
The payment is not means tested so the 2,000 people selected may still be eligible for social welfare payments and will still be able to earn other money from their work. The Irish government has provided a breakdown of which Irish county the 2,000 people to receive the income live in.More than 700 visual artists have been selected to receive the payments, along with 584 musicians, 204 working in film and 184 writers.
In a statement, Ms Martin acknowledged that "there will be a lot of disappointed people today who applied and didn't get selected".