People working in the arts will soon be eligible for a basic income of €325 a week under plans agreed by the Government.
Around 2,000 artists will be eligible and applications for the pilot scheme open next week.
It will total €1,300 a month, which is planned to be a subsidy to other incomes they receive while working in the arts.
Arts Minister Catherine Martin says it heralds a "new era" for the sector.
It comes as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment ends today.
Those who were receiving the PUP have now been switched to jobseeker's payments as the government winds down the emergency scheme.
44,000 people claimed the PUP in its last week.
The payment was introduced as 32% of the population were left without employment in 2020.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy says the practice made it clear that current social welfare rates are inadequate.
"As a society, we should say 'okay it was possible then in the pandemic, and a lasting legacy should be that we strive to achieve basic social welfare rates that are above the poverty line so that people can actually survive on them'".
