FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, the culture card proposed in Ireland looked like one of the most appealing announcements in Budget 2027. The idea was simple: give young people €100 for cultural purposes and let them decide how to spend it. But when the budget was presented, the culture card was nowhere to be seen.

Jack Chambers, Minister for Public Expenditure, subsequently confirmed that the scheme had not received funding and could not be implemented next year in its proposed form. However, it has not disappeared entirely.

Simon Harris, Patrick O'Donovan and Jack Chambers. Alamy Alamy

Tánaiste Simon Harris had said before Budget Day that the proposal was “not dead in the water”, while Culture Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s department has since confirmed that it will continue developing the concept. Perhaps, then, the more interesting question is not simply where has the culture card gone?, but what Ireland should do with it if it does show up. 

The Programme for Government included a commitment to consider a culture card for 16- and 17-year-olds, whereas the version discussed before the budget proposed €100 for 16-year-olds to spend on arts and cultural activities. The estimated cost was €7–8 million. Even before the budget, Chambers had questioned whether €100 was too high, as The Journal reported.

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

There is an appealing simplicity to this idea. Give a teenager money that can only be spent on culture, and perhaps they will buy their first theatre ticket or visit a gallery they have never entered before. But this raises a more complex question: does giving someone the opportunity to spend money on culture at 16 really change their attitude towards it, or does it mainly subsidise young people who were already interested? Ireland would hardly be the first country........

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