Ireland publishes guidelines for 2026 – 2029 Basic Income for the Arts scheme
The Irish Government has published the application guidelines for its new Basic Income for the Arts scheme, setting out the rules for a three-year programme that will support 2,000 artists with payments of €325 a week from later in 2026.
The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport said the new scheme will operate in three-year cycles, with artists eligible for support for three years out of any six-year period. According to the published guidance, recipients selected for the 2026 – 2029 round will not be able to apply again for the 2030 – 2033 cycle, though they may return in the following round.
Announcing the scheme earlier this year, Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport Patrick O’Donovan described it as ‘a major milestone for the arts in Ireland and how we support the arts’, adding that the research behind the pilot had given Government ‘a clear evidence base’ for moving ahead with a successor scheme. He also said that ‘Ireland is a global leader in the area of artist supports because of the BIA’.
The newly published guidelines underline that the scheme is only open to professional practising artists with an active creative practice predominantly based in Ireland. Applicants must be based in the Republic of Ireland at the time of application and throughout the period of support, and must submit three approved proofs of eligibility, including at least two connected to activity in Ireland.
The department has also made clear that the scheme is likely to be heavily oversubscribed. While only eligible applicants will be considered, selection will then be made through an anonymised random sampling process, meaning eligibility alone does not guarantee funding. The application portal opens on 15 April 2026 and closes on 12 May 2026.
A separate Recently Graduated Applicants strand will make up to 100 places available for artists who completed relevant practice-based higher education courses in 2024 or 2025 but may not yet be able to demonstrate an established professional career.
The scheme continues to be framed not only as a support for individual artists, but as a wider investment in the arts ecosystem. In the February announcement, the department said evidence from the pilot showed that artists receiving support were able to devote more time to their practice, make more work, experience greater life satisfaction and reduced anxiety, and were less exposed to the income instability that often defines arts careers. An external cost-benefit analysis, it said, found that every €1 invested in the pilot generated €1.39 in social return.
Peter Power of the National Campaign for the Arts called the scheme ‘a landmark commitment by the government to invest in Ireland’s arts industries’, arguing that it could help stabilise the precarious working conditions faced by artists while strengthening the country’s wider cultural life.
Applicants will also need to complete a survey as part of the scheme’s research framework, and successful recipients will be subject to annual verification and audit requirements. The guidelines note too that the names of successful applicants will be published, in line with standard practice for State funding.
O’Donovan said he hoped artists ‘from all over the country’ would apply so that those selected would reflect ‘the broadest range of artists practicing in Ireland today’.