Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will work backwards. If I leave anything out, the Deputy can refresh my memory. She asked a number of questions about various topics.

With reference to Galway 2020, as I mentioned in my opening statement, next year will be significant, and not just for Galway. The Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, has a particular interest in the issue. It will also be a significant year for Ireland in showcasing our culture and creativity and what we can do as a country. The eyes of not just Europe but the world will be on us.

It is a great honour for Galway, along with Rijeka in Croatia. It is going to be really significant in terms of what we will be able to do. The legacy project was mentioned. When I was launching the cultural aspect, I went to visit a potential site that they are looking at, an old An Post building. Whether that transpires remains to be seen but it is certainly an option that is being looked at. There are a number of different options. One of our main goals for Galway 2020 is that we leave a legacy so that it is remembered for generations to come and the creativity and artistic endeavour that people put into the whole project are continued on so that it has ramifications for other people.

The Deputy also mentioned Creative Youth. We have expanded the programme, doubling it from 150 schools to 300 this year. That is going to engage about 100,000 students, which is quite significant. There is also an increased budget of over €6 million for this year, which is also combined with the Arts Council and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. There are three new local Creative Youth partnerships being rolled out through the education and training boards, ETBs, in Laois-Offaly, Kerry, and Limerick and Clare. These are to develop new networks and enable greater collaboration within the local cultural and creative communities and also to complement the work being done in the formal school setting. There is also Music Generation, which will increase opportunities for more children and young people to access high-quality, subsidised performance music education, with the commencement of five new local music education partnerships. As well as that there is the national creativity fund with 30 exciting new and innovative partnerships. That was launched in 2018. The projects are now up and running; 15 of them are for children and young people. They include the regional roll-out of the Fighting Words creative writing initiative and the founding of the Open Youth Orchestra of Ireland, a national youth ensemble for physically and intellectually challenged children. It is the first of its kind in Europe and is led by the Royal Irish Academy of Music. That was a very exciting thing to start. Continued buy-in from the Department of Education and Skills and the Arts Council and increased support in respect of the early years setting remain really important for the continued success of the initiative.

The Deputy mentioned Cruinniú na nÓg, a national day for creativity for children. I think the specific question was whether it will continue. Yes, we want it to continue. The year before was Cruinniú na Cásca which in itself was a great celebration. I think Cruinniú na nÓg is even more successful and has great benefits for children and engaging them. We are the first country in the world to have a day dedicated just for children’s creativity. It is quite cutting edge in that sense. The feedback, particularly from rural, local communities, has been really positive. It is a way of getting children involved in supporting local artists and voluntary arts groups as well. It is run through the culture and creativity teams at local authority level primarily. It took place on 15 June, as I said in my statement, and we had about 780 events. There are about 55,000 children who engage in it. It is really a great day. There are three new young ambassadors as part of Cruinniú 2019. There was also a full citizen engagement plan which we rolled out, including a partnership with RTÉ, and the programme showed increased attendance and increased diversity of events available for children and young people. That was positive as well.

The recognition of Gaelscoileanna is important to my Department and there have been problems in this regard. It is an issue really primarily for the Minister for Education and Skills. I understand that a number of new Gaelscoileanna were announced recently following an intervention from the Language Commissioner and I think that announcement was widely welcomed. However, it is mainly a matter for the Minister for Education and Skills.