Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022
315. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if the pilot basic income scheme for artists will be eligible for comedians and comedy writers to apply for; if comedians and comedy writers are included in the definition of arts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4836/22]
View answerEligibility for the scheme will be underpinned by the definition of the arts set out in the Arts Act 2003, in which Arts is defined as:
“any creative or interpretative expression (whether traditional or contemporary) in whatever form, and includes, in particular, visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture, and includes any medium when used for those purposes”.
Arising out of the definition in the Arts act, eligible participants are considered to be artists or creative arts workers who are actively pursuing a career in creative or interpretive expression of an art form, in particular those identified under the Arts Act i.e. visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus or architecture.
Whether a comedian or comedy writer would be eligible under the scheme will depend on their ability to demonstrate that they have a creative practice i.e. interpreting or expressing an art form.
A creative arts worker is someone who’s work is in intrinsic to and makes a key contribution to the production or exhibition/display of artwork that is an original and creative work and whether it has, or is generally recognised as having, cultural or artistic merit. The input provided by workers in this category is intrinsically creative. This differentiates creative art workers from other supporting workers, whose input is better categorised as administrative, organisational, security, hospitality and so on.
