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Creative Ireland Programme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 September 2017

Wednesday, 27 September 2017

Questions (54)

Mick Wallace

Question:

54. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the role her Department played in the design of the artist's social welfare pilot scheme; if artists were involved in the design of the scheme; if concerns have been raised with her regarding the provision whereby artists must prove that they are genuinely seeking other work, taking part in courses or classes such as CV preparation, job searching or referral to Jobpath, Tús and jobs clubs, for example, particularly in view of the well-documented lack of conventional jobs in the creative field; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40532/17]

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Written answers

The initiative, which is a key commitment under the Creative Ireland Programme, aims to assist self-employed artists who apply to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection for Jobseekers Allowance. The pilot initiative, which will be reviewed after one year, applies to visual artists and writers. Design of the initiative involved extensive work between my own Department, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the Arts Council, as well as consultation with artists' representative organisations, in this case Visual Artist Ireland and the Irish Writers Centre.

Under the new mechanism, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will provide for the classification of self-employed professional artists in consultation with representative artists' organisations such as Visual Arts Ireland and the Irish Writers Centre.

This new mechanism allows artists to be classified as self-employed for the purposes of accessing social welfare supports. The normal checks and balances will apply to ensure the initiative is not open to abuse, but my hope is that this will make it much easier for professional artists to access social welfare supports when they need them.

Confirmation of self-employed artist status must be obtained from Visual Arts Ireland or the Irish Writers Centre. Such artists would not be subject to the activation process for 12 months. The other conditions associated with jobseeker’s allowance will continue to apply, as they do for all other claimants.

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