Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taken by some of the Deputy's comments. It is important to assure the House that the Government is committed to youth arts, particularly in the context of Creative Youth, which is one of five pillars of the Creative Ireland programme. Creative Youth is being implemented by, and is focused through, the Department of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. She is the Minister putting her name to it. However, the Deputy will appreciate that this is being done through partnerships. Be it in the formal education setting or the wider community setting, there must be buy-in by Departments, their agencies and local authorities. We cannot restrict this to one field. It cannot just be for people who are of school-going age, are within the formal education sector or have decided to proceed with a creative arts vocation. This is something that should be for every young person if he or she so chooses or, as in the case cited by the Deputy, if his or her parents so choose. He and I shared a video a couple of weeks ago of my son's attempt at creative art not long beforehand as part of junior infants. That was not necessarily something he wanted to be a part of, but it was the first thing he talked about when he came home. He is still singing about penguins. I hope he continues doing so, be it in the formalised education sector or more widely.

I take seriously the Deputy's points about the frustration of those who are entrusted to develop and deliver youth arts. We must ensure that they can make a career or living out of it. I will bring all of the Deputy's concerns to the Minister. She is well versed in the Deputy's opinions on the indicators. This is one that merits deep consideration. I will bring it to the Minister and other Government colleagues in due course.

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