405. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the cost of the basic income for artists for each month to date in 2026. [47873/26]

I was delighted to accept applications for the successor scheme to the Basic Income for the Arts pilot with just over 10,000 applications received by the deadline. This is a major milestone for the arts in Ireland.

With an allocation of €18.27 million for 2026, the Department is in a position to fund 2,000 artists. The applications to BIA 2026 - 2029 submitted show a diversity of arts practices, ages, and geographical distribution is visible. The data collected as part of the application is a snapshot of the sector in 2026 and will be a great resource for the Department in terms of developing future policy for the arts. A report setting out this data will be published in due course. The table below sets out the cost of the BIA Pilot scheme for each month to date in 2026.