Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:46 pm on 16 November 2022.
Thank you, Llywydd. On 8 September this year, 2,000 artists and arts workers were selected for the basic income for the arts pilot scheme in Ireland. Each artist or practitioner will receive €325 per week for three years as part of a research project that will collect data from participants to assess the impact of the scheme on their creative output and their well-being, with the aim of rolling it out to all artists as a permanent intervention. The scheme aims to show how Ireland values the arts and artistic practices. As you will be aware, the Welsh Government launched its basic income pilot scheme for care leavers in summer this year, an excellent pilot project that I hope will deliver all of the expected benefits. I wonder therefore whether the Deputy Minister has considered a similar programme for our culture sector to the one launched in Ireland, and, if not, is this something that she and her officials would be willing to give serious consideration to, bearing in mind how the culture, arts and heritage sectors have been hit by both the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis?