Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)

In July 2025, the first strategy action plan for creative arts and health was published as a joint policy document by the Department and the Department of Health. This is a key milestone in a policy partnership that began in 2020 in response to Covid. The plan aims to create a framework that can address the intersectoral and structural issues necessary to embed arts and health in a systemic way in Ireland in order to realise the potential of participation in creative and cultural activity as a positive health behaviour. The vision of the plan is that people living in Ireland have access to creative and cultural activity as part of a holistic health journey throughout their lives, supporting better health and well-being outcomes and enriching the creative and artistic landscape. Funding for the arts and health under the plan includes over €2 million from my Department for the creative health and wellbeing in the community scheme to support collaboration between Creative Ireland and healthy Ireland teams in the local authorities.

The key focus of this initiative is supporting better mental health through participation in creative and cultural activities. Under the auspices of the plan, a number of innovative actions are being progressed, including the next iteration of the Traveller health and wellbeing through creativity scheme; the development of arts and health training for medical undergraduates; and support for the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing in Trinity College Dublin to provide further research evidence for the benefits of participation in creative and cultural activity. The Department and the Department of Health have also co-funded a music in nursing homes scheme, through which local authorities bring professional musicians with musical performances to residents.

The benefits of sport and physical activity to physical and mental health are well proven. In partnership with the Department of Health under the healthy Ireland fund, Sport Ireland delivers a wide range of projects and programmes designed to increase the population's participation in sport and physical activity through the network of local sport's partnerships, recognised national governing bodies for sports and other relevant sporting organisations. Through initiatives such as Get Ireland Active and Get Ireland Walking, the outdoor swimming infrastructure scheme, and the physical activity for health programme, we are addressing key health challenges and breaking down barriers to participation in sport.

See this speech in context