Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is dancing all over the UNESCO convention and he is wrong. A gymnastics school can operate under levels 3 and 4 but we cannot, so there is a discrepancy. I urge the Minister of State to consider the physical, emotional, mental and pedological benefits that dance can bring to young people, and to allow the CLRG and other dance organisations to continue sharing their knowledge and expertise by advocating and permitting the continuation of Irish dance classes indoors and in socially distanced pods. These are not reckless people but they want to go on with the excellent tuition they have. Many of them danced as daoine óga and went on to be world champions. Look at Riverdance, Brú Ború or the cultural activities of Comhaltas. This is so important for us. The Minister of State mentioned schools, where 30 kids are in a classroom with a teacher. Many people do not excel at school but they might do so at dancing, art or music. They too have to be catered for; we are not all going to be in academia. This is very important for our culture, heritage and dúchas. Going forward, we need this and will be proud of this. If we are to deny these people a full year of tuition, however, we will lose them.

I remind the Minister of State of the letter from the six-year-old girl. Sin an fáth go bhfuil mé ag obair ar sin inniu. I hope he will be in some way sympathetic and empathetic. I ask him not to dance all over the UNESCO convention. What is the point of signing up to it, with great fanfare, if we are not going to honour it?

See this speech in context