Ireland will pay artists a basic income after a successful pilot program

Ireland has announced that it will begin paying artists a basic income after the successful completion of a recent pilot program, among the first of its kind globally.

The groundbreaking “Basic Income for the Arts” plan was approved by the government on February 10, Ireland’s Ministry for Culture, Communications and Sport said in a news release. Full criteria for the program are being finalized, but applications are expected to open in May with artists receiving their first payments before the end of the year.

According to the most recent Household Budget Survey from the Central Statistics Office released in August 2024, the average household in Ireland spent about €1,007.47 per week in 2022–23, based on detailed expenditure data collected from households across Ireland.

Under the program, the government will select 2,000 eligible artists to receive €325 per week, paid monthly, for three years. The program will operate under three-year cycles, with the second batch of artists expected to be selected in 2029.

The program specifies that artists can receive the payment for 3 out of every 6 years, meaning that artists chosen to receive basic income during one cycle are not eligible for the next cycle but may reapply for following cycles.

A three-month "tapering-off" period at the end of the three years has been included in the program to help artists transition back to other income sources.

The three-year pilot program, which came towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and saw more than 8,000 applications, was launched in April 2022 and was extended to this month, coinciding with the launch of the permanent program. The Irish government published a series of reports analyzing the success of the pilot program.

A qualitative research study based on one-to-one interviews with recipients found that the basic income significantly impacted the lives of the artists, including reducing their anxiety of making ends meet, increasing their time for their creative pursuits and even allowed some to put money into savings for the future for the first time.

“The BIA payment is primarily considered a supplementary income, the majority of recipients did not live off the basic income alone,” the report found.

Still, in a quantitative study, researchers found that there was a decline in income from work outside the arts, suggesting a substitution effect. “Rather than increasing overall hours worked across all sectors, recipients appear to have reallocated their labor from other types of employment to artistic work,” researchers said.

The qualitative report found that recipients spoke of the importance of the basic income as a “buffer” or “safety net” that helped them through adverse life events, like having to move, illness and even the theft of their equipment. And researchers in the quantitative study found that artists who received the basic income were less likely to agree to work without pay.

Over the course of the pilot, the Irish government invested about €114 million, adjusted to 2025 prices, to fund the payments. The program’s net cost was lower, however, because a significant portion of that spending, nearly €36 million, flowed back to the state through tax revenues, meaning the pilot ultimately cost taxpayers some €72 million.

That report also included a broader social return on investment calculation, an assessment that determines whether the overall benefits to society exceed the costs.

Such calculations, delivered as a monetary value, can measure increased economic activity and other benefits. The report found that society received an estimated €1.39 in return for each euro spent, indicating that the program generated benefits that exceeded its fiscal cost.

“This is a major milestone for the arts in Ireland and how we support the arts,” Culture Minister Patrick O’Donovan said in a statement.

“I am particularly pleased that the research my Department conducted provided Government with a clear evidence base upon which to make that decision. Ireland is a global leader in the area of artist supports because of the BIA.”

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