Information on working in Ireland and employment permits is available through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Justice:

• Coming to work in Ireland - Immigration Service Delivery
  
• https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/workplace-and-skills/employment-permits/
  

This information leaflet outlines the types of employment permits and visas that are available to Non-EEA Nationals in the arts sector, and the steps an organisation can take to hire non-EEA workers: 

• Employment Permits for Non-EEA Nationals in the Arts Sector

For a summary of the history and character of the Irish system for policy development and funding of the arts since 1921 you might like to read the record for Ireland in the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe. The Compendium of Cultural Policies in Europe www.culturalpolicies.net provides a central source of information on arts policy, public expenditure and the regulatory environment for culture in Ireland, and in 35 other countries over seas. Information includes:

1. Historical perspectives: cultural policies and instruments;
2. Administration and decision making;
3. General objectives and principles of cultural policy;
4. Current issues in cultural policy development and debate;
5. General legislation; 
6. Financing of Culture;
7. Cultural institutions and new partnerships;
8. Support to creativity and participation; 
9. Sources and links.

You can create a table from the Compendium of Cultural Policies in Europe for comparative data on a selection of these issues.

The following are a re-election of national copyright, collection and distribution societies. Collated data on collection and distribution might be available from these organisations. There is no central repository of such information at present.

Irish Copyright Licensing Agency
ICLA encourages respect for copyright, licenses users for copying of extracts from published works, collects fees, pays authors and publishes their share of the collected fees. www.icla.ie

Copyright Association of Ireland
CAI has the following objectives:

• The promotion of informed debate on copyright;
• The promotion of awareness of copyright among users of copyright works, creators of copyright works and the public generally;
• The examination of legislative measures having effect on copyright. www.cai.ie

Irish Visual Artist’s Rights Association
IVARO is a new organisation. It was launched on June 25th 2005. It is a copyright collecting society for visual artists. On behalf of its members, it collects and distributes royalties for the reproduction of visual works of art. www.ivaro.org

Irish Music Rights Organisation
IMRO is a national organisation that administers the performing right in copyright music in Ireland on behalf of its members - songwriters, composers and music publishers - and on behalf of the members of the international overseas societies that are affiliated to it. IMRO’s function is to collect and distribute royalties arising from the public performance of copyright works www.imro.ie

Irish National Federation Against Copyright Theft
INFACT protects the rights of its members and others in Ireland against piracy of copyright in cinematograph films, television programmes and all forms of visual recordings. 
Email: infact@iol.ie

Artists in Ireland benefit from a specific tax provision which was introduced in the 1969 Finance Act.

For more information on artists tax exemption please contact the Office of the Revenue Commissioner: 

Office of the Revenue Commissioner, 
Direct Taxes: Administration (Artists Exemption), 
Blocks 8-10, 
Dublin Castle, 
Dublin 2. 
Ireland. 
Tel: + 1 6792777 Ext. 24106, 48683 and 48684 
Fax: 353 1 6799287 
Website: www.revenue.ie
Direct Link: www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/artists-exemption.html

For an overview of cultural landscape in Ireland including:

1. Historical perspective: cultural policies and instruments;
2. Administration and decision making;
3. General objectives and principles of cultural policy;
4. Current issues in cultural policy development and debate;
5. General legislation;
6. Financing of Culture;
7. Cultural institutions and new partnerships;
8. Support to creativity and participation;
9. Sources and links;

Log onto the Compendium of Cultural Policies in Europe http://www.culturalpolicies.net  Just visit the website and click onto ‘Country Profiles’ on the menu bar and scroll along for Ireland.

The Central Statistics Office collects data on the labour market; public finance; and the consumer expenditure. However the CSO does not currently systematically collect detailed data on the cultural sector. But you can find their statistics at: www.cso.ie The main CSO data sources of relevance are the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS), the Census of Population (CoP), and the Household Budget Survey (HBS). The QNHS is the largest regular household sample survey conducted in Ireland. The main focus of the QNHS is the compilation of quarterly labour force estimates. The QNHS collects detailed information on place of employment and occupation. The Census is conducted every five years and collects similar detailed information on employer and occupation.

As an advocate for the arts the Arts Council directly commissions, and also funds arts resource and service organisations to undertake research into products of culture; producers of culture; cultural consumption and practices; participation in culture activities and events; spending on culture goods and services; culture workforce; funding in support of culture; cultural industry; cultural events; and education and training in the cultural sector.

A library of past research from 1951 to date is available on the publications section of  the Arts Council website.

The Arts Council also supports external resource and service organisations in providing targeted information and advice. You can find a list of these organisations in the links section under resource organisations.

CLÉ, Irish Book Publishers Association, and Theatre Forum have recently undertaken research in their respective artform areas. CLÉ, Irish Book Publishers Association: www.publishingireland.com; Theatre Forum: www.theatreforumireland.com

Finally, take a look at the data available from the National Cultural Institutions Unit of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. The unit seeks to create an environment enabling the National Cultural Institutions to flourish through the provision of financial resources and an appropriate policy framework. The National Cultural Institutions are: National Archives, National Concert Hall, National Library of Ireland, National Museum of Ireland, Chester Beatty Library and the Irish Museum of Modern Art and in addition the National Gallery of Ireland, which has its own Exchequer Vote and is responsible to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. Issues relating to the day-to-day management of the individual National Cultural Institutions are dealt with directly by the institutions themselves; matters relating to the general policy under which they operate and the provision of financial resources are matters for this Unit.

Take a look at the web pages at: www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/culture/overview.html

Attendance figures are available from: www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/culture/attendance_figures.html