Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will report on the progress of the pilot programme for a local music education service designed by Music Network and the Donegal local music education services; her plans to implement a national system of local music education services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5741/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I take it the Deputy is referring to the report of a feasibility study entitled A National System of Local Music Education Services, prepared by Music Network and published in 2003. Among the recommendations contained in the Music Network report was that a series of music education partnerships would be developed between the county-city development boards and the vocational education committees on a phased basis.

Following the report, my Department has developed a number of exemplar models which will enable approaches to be tested in regard to the strategy outlined in the report. In this regard, my Department is funding a pilot programme in both Dublin city and in Donegal to test the model. The pilot began in 2004. The programme provides for an instrument bank, group and individual tuition, support for ensembles and choirs and covers a range of musical genres, including pop-jazz, traditional and classical. It is operated by the relevant VEC and is overseen by a committee which includes Údarás, county development boards, the education centre and other community interests.

It is important that the effectiveness of these recent pilots is evaluated before any decision is made as to whether to implement such a system on a national basis. My concern would naturally be to ensure that we use our available resources in a way that brings maximum benefit for students. I believe that the arts have an important role to play in the education of the individual. Music, the visual arts and drama provide for sensory, emotional, intellectual and creative enrichment and contribute to the young person's holistic development and self-esteem.

Apart from the pilot local music networks that have been set up, a number of other initiatives have taken place in recent years which show the Government's commitment to improving access to the arts for all our young people. Such initiatives include resource grants given to primary schools to help them implement the arts aspects of the new curriculum, a promotion involving IRMA that saw free tin whistles being made available to all primary teachers last year, the continuing success of the new music curriculum for the leaving certificate, and the provision of teaching hours to a number of schools of music in Laois, Limerick, Cork and Dublin.

The Deputy will of course also be aware of the significant investment that the Government is making in the Cork School of Music. Another very positive initiative was the system of targeted grants given by my colleague, the Minister with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to disadvantaged schools for the purchase of musical instruments both last year and the year before. The Government believes in the potential of arts experiences to enrich the lives of people, young and old. We have substantially improved support for the arts in recent years.

With regard to the local music network scheme, given that this is a new approach and that the pilots are just two years old, it is important to evaluate the success of these pilots before making any decision as to whether to extend this model on a national basis. This way we can be sure that the best procedures are in place to improve access to the arts for all our young people.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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I put down this question to raise a debate on the provision of music education. I welcome the fact that Deputy Keaveney is here because she also has an interest in this area. Unless one is in these pilot areas, having money is an important factor in getting a musical education in the sense of learning instruments because it is not provided for within the public education system and one must pay for it. Does the Minister agree that there is a need for a broad-based provision of music education? While I accept the pilot project has existed for only a short time, does the Minister know when we might expect it to be extended to the rest of the country?

While I receive letters from various organisations, I was struck by one I received recently from a group in County Limerick that wishes to teach traditional music in schools in disadvantaged areas. Unfortunately, the organisation in question has been forced to seek private sector funding to finance its plans because schools cannot pay the costs. Does the Minister agree that such organisations should not be required to seek private sector funding? Should the school system not have a mechanism in place to facilitate the teaching of music, whether traditional, classical or other, to children?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Arts education is one of the seven curriculum areas in primary schools and, as such, is a core part of the curriculum. The music curriculum is designed around the strands of listening, responding, performing and composing activities. In disadvantaged schools, in particular, the school completion programme has funded a number of initiatives involving music, for example, choirs, bands and orchestras in Finglas schools, which I have seen first hand. Options are, therefore, available.

The Music Network pilot programme, which is focused on young people, is expensive. Commencing in 2004, each centre has been allocated a sum of €100,000 per annum and start-up funding of €20,000. Significant investment would be required to extend the pilot projects nationwide. Music is already part of the primary school curriculum and an optional subject at second level. The new music curriculum for the leaving certificate has proved more successful and popular than its predecessor. In 2005, 4,700 candidates took music, of whom 74% were female. This is a significant figure, albeit perhaps irrelevant in the context of this discussion.

Various initiatives are taking place, including the allocation of grants, distribution of tin whistles and investment in the Cork School of Music. I will be interested to discover how the networks operate in practice. I strongly support the school completion fund and its work with local schools, particularly disadvantaged schools, in funding projects because I am aware of the success of such projects.

Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to represent one of the areas covered by the pilot programme. It is unusual for an area north of a line running from Dublin to Galway to be selected for a pilot scheme, even a bad one. The Minister referred to the relative expense of the Music Network projects. If she saw the results on the ground in terms of how children who had no access to music have been able to access music at affordable rates or if she were to evaluate the funding on the basis of the number of children gaining from the pilot project, she would find that €100,000 is a pittance. County Donegal now has peninsula orchestras and choirs which it never had previously.

My core message is that music is not simply a subject on the school curriculum. If a child engages in music in its early years, it will benefit from rhythmic development, co-ordination, language development and focus. The Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which I chair, commissioned and published a report on music and young people. Using County Donegal as an example, the report provides concrete examples of how non-academic children who are exposed to music, for example, the beating of a drum, subsequently focused on reading and other learning tasks set by their teachers.

We must decide that arts are a key mechanism for personal development and music is about more than creating future musicians or audiences. To make the funding available for music go further, will the Minister co-ordinate with the Minister for Health and Children, given the importance of music therapy for people with disabilities, Alzheimer's disease and so forth, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, given that the Arts Council is developing a similar type of scheme for schools, and the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, with regard to interventions at an early age? Perhaps if we decided to make what the Minister described as an "expensive" investment at an early stage in children's lives, other interventions required in later years to tackle dyslexia, dyspraxia and other problems would no longer be necessary.

I know the Minister's heart is in the right place. Does she agree, however, that unless we decide that the arts are central to the holistic development of children, irrespective of whether they are disabled, able-bodied or of low or high intellect, we will not win the argument in which Deputies have engaged today?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Keaveney, given her personal and professional interest in this matter, will realise the importance of music in the development of everybody, including Deputy Finian McGrath, a well-known performer.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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His recent performances might get him re-elected.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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One of the most moving uses of music I have witnessed was in the Central Remedial Clinic which treats children with highly specialised needs. The clinic has top-class technological equipment for music and dance which is used as a key part of the children's development and education. I have also observed the use of rhythm and music in the education of autistic children, for instance, the tambourine is used for eye contact and movement. I accept, therefore, the value of music across the education system. In addition, my Department, in conjunction with the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, is establishing a group to examine the arts in education.

I hope the artistic world will be willing to assist children's education. Last year, for example, the Irish Recorded Music Association, IRMA, provided free tin whistles to schools. Although a simple gesture, this was a significant advance in promoting music in schools. I hope the arts sector, with the talent and resources at its disposal, will contribute to the educational sector.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I concur with Deputy Keaveney's comments on the importance of music and the arts in general. Does the Minister accept that while music is a central part of the curriculum at second and primary levels, it is frequently treated as a second rate subject and its development is not taken seriously? Does she intend to invest more in music and the arts at primary and second levels? Does she agree that music is important in the development of the person and society? Children involved in the arts and music learn teamwork. Many schools over-emphasise sports and do not sufficiently focus on children who have little interest in sport. In so doing, they overlook the fact that schools which take a balanced approach to the arts, music and sport and incorporate all of them in their ethos will be happy, contented and stable and will experience less aggression.

Another issue which is often overlooked, particularly in disadvantaged schools, is the role of music and the arts in the teaching of language and literacy. Many children who experience literacy problems or difficulty in achieving reading ages, frequently as a result of barriers or problems at home, are taught to read through the medium of song and poetry. Good teachers use music to teach literacy and reading and develop language skills, an approach now widely used in disadvantaged schools.

Music and the arts can be used in a positive manner to tackle aggression and disruption by pupils. I again emphasise the use of art therapy in disadvantaged schools where it has benefited children who came from violent and dysfunctional families. I ask the Minister to consider long-term investment in music and the arts in all schools.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I probably agree with everything the Deputy has said about the importance of music and the person's holistic development. We could probably all talk about the person's self-esteem and the value of music. Approximately a dozen arts programmes ran as summer schools last year to promote literacy in some disadvantaged areas among six to 11 year olds. These are the types of initiatives we have seen and I already referred to the ones I have seen. As I travel the country it is clear that music is alive and well in our schools. Music is a core part of the primary school curriculum. In Wexford I saw traditional music very strongly encouraged. Schools took the initiative to invite local traditional music players who come in willingly and teach the children every week. Other schools focus on instrumental music. Last week I was in a disadvantaged school in Killinarden, where the children were playing with their tin whistles and recorders. Teachers in all schools make great use of music.

Two weeks ago I went to the gaelscoil in Maynooth where children from the first communion class and the sixth class preparing for confirmation were all proud to sing the hymns they were going to sing in their ceremonies in the coming weeks. Across the spectrum music plays a central part. Music is not a core subject on the leaving certificate, but is a choice subject in second level schools. However, we should consider the number of second level schools with orchestras and choirs, and in particular the number performing musicals. In the past year I attended a performance of "Annie" and am about to go to see "Calamity Jane". "Oklahoma" is another popular musical. It is wonderful to see the teamwork not just within schools but also in collaboration with other schools. My school, Sion Hill, is about to stage a production with Oatlands College. Loretto in Foxrock will work with Blackrock College and CBC in Monkstown will work with St. Joseph of Cluny. That type of involvement is good for the overall development of the student.

All of us in this House accept the importance and value of music. In addition to investment from the Department and through the curriculum, schools should not ignore the wealth of musical talent and expertise in their communities and of people who are more than willing to give of their time. Schools should be willing to use such resources. I am happy to continue to work on the subject to see how it can be developed. I accept it forms part of the holistic development of every child.