FERGAL O'HANNRACHAIN,
Sir, - The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (August 12th) made no reference to the unique treatment of artists through the artists' tax exemption scheme.
The scheme exempting artists from tax on earnings from their work has no ceiling. As a result hugely successful artists who have no need of any support are gifted money by the State while rising artists with little or no income have to take part-time jobs to support their craft.
The growth in infrastructure in the arts appears to create a new layer of bureaucracy between artists and funding and the only return the public gets is the opportunity to queue for tickets for sold-out concerts.
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There is room for improvement. - Yours, etc.,
FERGAL O'HANNRACHAIN,
Cabra,
Dublin 7