Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
1225. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of a pilot scheme that was introduced for jobseeker’s allowance and benefit recipients whereby practitioners of certain arts would still be entitled to their social welfare payment for a certain amount of time as they attempt to build a career in the arts; the uptake of this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24694/18]
View answerA pilot initiative to assist self-employed visual artists and writers who apply to my Department for jobseeker’s allowance was launched in June 2017. The initiative, which is a commitment under the Creative Ireland Programme, involved collaboration between my Department and what is now the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with the support and advice of the Arts Council. It was decided after a process of consultation that the initiative would apply to members of Visual Arts Ireland (VAI) and the Irish Writers Centre (IWC).
A key feature of the initiative is that it acknowledges the status of self-employed artists and writers and gives them a 12 month window to focus on building up their work before they become subject to labour market activation services provided by my Department. Naturally, there are safeguards in place to ensure that claimants are professional visual artists and writers and, in addition, applicants must satisfy all of the usual qualifying conditions for jobseeker’s allowance, including a means test.
There were 47 artists and writers on the scheme at the beginning of June. The figure of 47 does not imply that there are only 47 professional visual artists or writers in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance. It simply means that there are 47 recipients of the payment who are availing of the pilot arrangements and therefore they are not subject to the activation process for 12 months. Approximately 61 artists and writers have availed of the scheme to date.
The general population of jobseeker’s allowance recipients is not classified as to their occupation or profession so it is not possible to say how many writers or visual artists are in receipt of jobseekers allowance. The arrangements for the pilot scheme will be reviewed later this year.
