Why is basic income being debated?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ireland has a new permanent government scheme providing regular cash transfers to 2,000 artists. The people who can access it range from circus performers to opera singers.
It follows a pilot of more than three years, which is believed to have brought a return on investment to the economy.
Big tech backs basic income schemes like this to offset the consequences AI is having on the workforce. Leading economists believe it could create a dystopian world. Nevertheless, more governments are piloting or planning to introduce schemes like this.
Contributors: Dr Jenny Dagg, assistant lecturer, Maynooth University, Ireland Dr Catarina Neves, postdoctoral fellow, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Daron Acemoglu, 2024 Nobel Prize winner in economics, institute professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US Dr Jurgen De Wispelaere, acting chair of the Basic Income Earth Network.
Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Daniel Rosney Sound engineer: Craig Boardman Editor: Tom Bigwood
(Photo: A customer withdraws euro bills from an ATM in Sofia. Credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.5 | Welcome to the inquiry from the BBC World Service. I'm Charmaine Cozier. |
| 0:10.6 | Each week, one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:17.2 | October 2025, the Irish government holds a live media conference after announcing the 2026 budget. |
| 0:25.5 | Speakers include Patrick O'Donovan, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport. |
| 0:30.5 | He confirms that a pioneering pilot scheme for one section of the population will be made permanent. |
| 0:36.4 | An allocation of 18.27 million will be provided for the basic income for the art scheme and its successor. |
| 0:42.8 | That 18 million euros, or 22 million US dollars, will fund regular cash payments to 2,000 artists |
| 0:50.0 | with no conditions attached to ease income instability and support creativity. |
| 0:56.2 | Ireland has gone further than most. |
| 0:58.5 | Many countries are studying and testing variations of basic income. |
| 1:03.0 | It's also attracted the interest of industries keen to promote them |
| 1:06.4 | as a crucial element of the future of work. |
| 1:10.2 | So this week we're asking, why is basic income being debated? |
| 1:16.8 | Part 1, a safety net. |
| 1:20.1 | It's an interesting question as to why the basic income was introduced in Ireland. |
| 1:24.9 | Jenny Dagg is an assistant lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Manouf University in Ireland. |
| 1:31.3 | Basic income has different forms and alternatives. |
| 1:34.4 | They include universal basic income or UBI, where individuals get paid regardless of their work or wealth status. |
| 1:41.5 | If we look actually back, we have a history of discussion of UBI in Ireland |
| 1:45.3 | since the 90s and there was actually a commitment within our program for government in 2020 |
| 1:49.9 | to trial a universal basic income. And of course, that was before the COVID pandemic hit. |
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