by John Baker, Reinhard Huss 

In September 2020, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin set up the Arts and Culture Taskforce which was tasked with producing a report on how the arts and culture sector could adapt and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time she was also the deputy leader of the Green Party which is supportive of the Basic Income (BI) concept. The number one recommendation from the task force report Life Worth Living was to pilot a Basic Income scheme for a 3-year period in the in the arts, culture, audio-visual and live performance and events sectors. As part of the National Economic Recovery Plan launched on 1 June 2021, Minister Martin secured a commitment from Government for a Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) Pilot Scheme.

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