Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the discussions that have been held with other Departments, including the Department of Education and Science, with a view to seeking additional funding for the Arts Council for educational projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11722/07]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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A special committee was established to advise the Arts Council on how best to align the council's strategies for the promotion and encouragement of the arts with the priorities of the formal education system. The arts and education committee members are Mary Nunan, Arts Council member, Jerome Morrissey, National Centre for Training in Technology, Pat MacSitric, assistant chief inspector, Department of Education and Science, Mr. Derek West, chair of National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, Orlaith McBride, Arts Council member. The committee is due to report with its recommendations, in May, after which consideration can be given to their implementation and any possible funding requirements.

In its deliberations, the committee will have regard to the wide-ranging demands on the school curriculum bearing in mind that responsibility for determining its content rests with the Minister for Education and Science. It will have regard to the need to prioritise and cost its recommendations; that these recommendations must have regard both to their resource implications for the Arts Council and the budgetary resources available over the next four years to the Minister for Education and Science for the development of services in the education sector which must be allocated to fund existing policy commitments. Subject to these factors, it will consider the identification of what additional sources of funding, if any, might be available to fund its recommendations and the roles and partnerships appropriate for relevant State and other agencies and bodies in this context, including the Department of Education and Science, the Arts Council, vocational committees and local authorities. The focus of the special committee's advice should be on making specific and deliverable recommendations for implementation over three to five years.

Giving the arts a higher, more consistent profile at both primary and post-primary levels, can bring significant benefits to students. It is important to stress this applies to all students and not just to those who are recognised as being particularly gifted artistically. As the future of the arts resides with our children, it is vital the arts are embedded in our education system at all levels. I look forward to seeing the results of the committee's work and am committed to encouraging participation in the arts as part of our children's education.

Any question of funding to implement the recommendations of the committee will be addressed in the context of the 2008 Estimates process. During my tenure, I have been singular in my objective to enhance the resourcing of the arts and culture sector. I have taken the sector from the periphery of the policy circle to its very core. For 2007, I secured more than €216 million for the arts and culture sector. The national development plan has allocated more than €900 million for capital projects in the area. Unquestionably, neither I nor this Government has been found deficient in funding the arts and culture sector.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Will the Minister acknowledge the provision of a dedicated funding channel is necessary for the Arts Council? Will he meet regularly with the Arts Council? With Deputy Boyle, I have met Arts Council representatives regularly and their one constant comment is that the council does not have the moneys to secure performing arts and other art forms to attend schools and enhance the primary and secondary schools curriculum.

The Green Party has announced that if in government, it will provide an additional €10 million from education funding to the Arts Council. Is the Minister prepared to push for this through his Department or in consultations with the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin? The arts play an important role in society in assisting in developing students' creativity which can lead to better, more rounded individuals who will ultimately benefit the economy.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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After the establishment of the Arts Council, I established a committee to examine policy for the traditional arts. Subsequently, the committee's report set out a policy framework. It was accepted there was no coherent policy for the traditional arts and they were under-resourced. As a result of the policy document being accepted by the Arts Council, we succeeded in funding the traditional arts. Ever since, they have been flowering.

Following on from this, I established the education and arts committee under Mary Nunan. It is continuing its deliberations with a view to producing a policy document which will be presented some time in May. In the autumn during the Estimates process I hope that under the tenure of whoever is the Minister responsible, the arts and education policy document will be implemented with the same fervour, enthusiasm and enlightenment as the traditional arts policy was.