Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Cooney has raised concerns that the random selection process for the permanent Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme could unintentionally disadvantage artists in rural counties such as Clare.
Deputy Cooney raised the issue with the Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, seeking assurances that the rollout of the scheme will ensure artists across all counties have a fair opportunity to benefit.
Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Cooney welcomed the Government’s decision to make the BIA scheme permanent but questioned whether the selection process would fully reflect the contribution of artists in rural communities.
“I welcome the Basic Income for the Arts scheme and the decision to make it a permanent support for professional artists. This is a significant recognition of the value of artists and the contribution they make to Ireland’s culture and communities.
“However, I have concerns that the randomised selection process, while designed to ensure fairness between individual applicants, may not take account of the particular challenges faced by artists in rural counties such as Clare.
“Fairness in the process does not always guarantee fairness in the outcome. Rural artists can face additional barriers, including fewer professional networks, fewer opportunities and less access to the supports and structures that are more concentrated in urban centres.”
Deputy Cooney said Clare’s strong arts tradition must be recognised as part of the rollout of the scheme.
“Clare has a proud creative heritage, from traditional music and performance to visual arts, literature and many other disciplines. It is important that artists in Clare and across rural Ireland are not unintentionally left behind when this support is being allocated.”
Responding to Deputy Cooney, Minister of State Charlie McConalogue said he recognised Deputy Cooney’s advocacy for Clare and defended the use of an anonymous random selection process.
“Deputy Cooney has advocated very strongly for his county. There have been 10,000 applicants and 2,000 will be able to participate and will be successful for participating in the scheme.
“The approach that is planned to be taken is an anonymous random selection process. The assessment is that this is the way to be fair to all artists who have applied and to have the best possible spread representative of the number of artists who have applied.
“Our objective is to be fair and equal and give as many people as possible the opportunity to participate. Obviously there will be different participants this time in the scheme compared to the pilot scheme, and the objective is to ensure that as many people as possible can avail of the support.”
Deputy Cooney said he would continue to monitor the rollout of the scheme to ensure Clare artists are properly represented.
“I welcome the Minister’s commitment that the process will be fair and transparent. However, it is important that we continue to examine the outcomes and ensure that rural counties like Clare are not disadvantaged.
“The success of this scheme should be measured not only by how fair the process is, but by whether artists right across Ireland, including those in rural communities, have a genuine opportunity to benefit.”