Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Creative Ireland programme, which was launched by the Taoiseach and me in December, places a special focus on enabling the creative potential of every child. It will build on the arts in education charter through the development of an integrated plan, Creative Children, to enable every child in Ireland to access tuition in music, drama, art and coding by 2022. Officials in my Department are continuing to work with their counterparts in relevant Departments and other stakeholders to develop this plan with a launch timeframe of early autumn 2017. The Creative Children plan will build on the work to date in implementing the arts in education charter. My Department is continuing to work closely with the Department of Education and Skills and the Arts Council to deliver the key objectives of the charter in the wider context of the Creative Ireland programme. The objectives of the charter have been achieved largely through existing structures such as education centres. Good progress has been made with the launch of Ireland's first arts in education portal, the holding of national arts and education days and the development of teacher-artist partnerships through education and training centres. I look forward to attending national arts day events next Saturday, 6 May 2017, at St. Patrick's College in Drumcondra. Arising from the significant increase in support of €5 million which I secured for the Arts Council as part of budget 2017, I am pleased that the Arts Council decided to increase funding in this area from €3.1 million in 2016 to €3.7 million this year. These initiatives demonstrate the Government's overall commitment to deliver for children as we work in finalising the Creative Children plan.

On the issue of disability, Creative Ireland aims to increase participation among all members of society which includes people with disabilities. Creative Ireland is the overriding policy document from which all these strategies flow.

See this speech in context