Ireland’s basic income scheme for artists is being made permanent. Would it work in the UK?

Struggling Irish creatives have been given an unexpected piece of good news. Ireland’s Basic Income for Artists pilot scheme has been made a permanent fixture. The pilot, which launched in 2022 to prop up the creative industries in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, saw a trial group of 2,000 artists, actors and musicians given a basic income of €325 (£280) a week to support their careers.

The scheme had already been extended to February 2026 earlier in the year. But this month, the Irish government announced in its budget that the basic income payment would be made permanent, with 2,000 additional recipients to be admitted in 2026 – possibly extended to 2,200 if the budget allows.

Rodney Owl, who was on the initial pilot, told Big Issue that the Basic Income for Artists (BIA) has allowed him to “take risks” with his career. “For years I had been a working musician playing in pub bands, but always struggling, having to take every gig offered, suitable or not, just to get by,” the musician, from Connemara in County Galway said.

“I neglected my original work due to pure necessity, no time off or down time to create new work. The BIA changed all that almost overnight.”

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Owl explained that the weekly payments have allowed him to focus on his own music, meaning he “released two albums and two EPs in the three years I’ve been on it”, explaining that “previously I’d released one album in 10 years, and never had the time or resources to pursue that creative impulse properly.”

He added that, as well as being able to focus on his own music, he was also able to put together bands and pay other musicians and artists for their services thanks to the scheme.

The question of whether the 2,000 artists enrolled in the pilot would continue to receive funding or if they would need to reapply was raised in the Dáil by Sinn Féin arts spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh, who asked: “Will it be a new scheme? Will it be totally reworked? Will it be an extension of the current scheme?”

The Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney called for certainty and Ireland’s minister for culture Patrick
O’Donovan responded that any permanent scheme would rely on a funding source, explaining: “The quantum of the funding source will then determine the number of people that will be able to access it, again, having had discussions with the Department of Social Protection and others.”

Owl pointed out that recipients are required to pay tax on the payment and additional earnings, therefore boosting the economy. Meanwhile, a study of the scheme found that for every €1 (87p) the government had paid into the scheme, €1.39 (£1.20) was returned by artists through taxes and revenue. It was also found that recipients’ arts-related income increased by more than €500 (£433) a month on average.

Additionally, people who received BIA “spend on average 11 weekly hours more on their creative practice; and are 14 percentage points more likely to have completed new works in the previous six months, on average, completing 3.9 pieces of work more than the control group”.

Other countries have expressed interest in replicating similar schemes, with O’Donovan claiming officials from Australia, Wales, South Korea, Canada, Norway, Lithuania, Estonia and more have “sought briefings on the scheme”.

“Last year, our officials met with Jane Hutt, member of the Welsh Senedd and cabinet secretary for social justice, to discuss the strengths and challenges of the income pilot,” he said.

Jonny Douglas, co-founder of UBI Lab Network which advocates for a universal basic income (UBI), said that the expansion of the scheme is “fantastic news”, adding, “now, more than ever, we need to be demonstrating and understanding how basic income can help people.

“UBI Lab Arts is exploring a basic income pilot for musicians in the UK, and national creative trade unions already support UBI. The results from the Irish Artists Basic Income pilot, once again, highlight the need to do more of this in the UK.”

Douglas explained that universal basic income could be “our generation’s NHS”, urging politicians to explore the possibility of rolling it out in England and Wales.

“We hope this inspires Andy Burnham to take the next step and bring forward a basic income pilot in Manchester, and that other leaders follow suit too,” he said.

“I would imagine quite a few states will now take notice of this, financially it’s a no-brainer as the stats clearly show,” added Owl. “It’s very difficult to argue with the benefits to society as a whole as well as the artists involved. Art creates revenue, and  no government can ignore that now.”

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