Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

10. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps her Department will take to remove barriers to cultural activity for young persons in view of an ESRI and Arts Council report launched recently which states that families of young children with disabilities are highly engaged in cultural activities but that there are barriers to participation at ages nine and 13, with fewer children with special needs participating in structured cultural activities. [31136/16]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I presume that when organisations are starving they are usually pleased to see a few extra crumbs from the table. With regard to this question, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, recently published a document concerning the arts and the cultural participation of children and young people. It highlighted the benefits children get from cultural engagements, including confidence in learning and expression and better coping skills with studies. However, it also highlighted that a number of sectors of Irish society are not getting those benefits. How do we equality proof access to the arts for everybody in society?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The programme for a partnership Government commits to the implementation of the arts in education charter. This is a partnership between my Department, the Department of Education and Skills and the Arts Council.

Under the Arts Act 2003, primary responsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels throughout the country is devolved to the Arts Council, which is the main channel of State current expenditure on the arts. The council's ten year strategy, Making Great Art Work, places specific emphasis on the need to plan and provide for children and young people. The strategy also commits to working to achieve full implementation of thearts in education charter. The council also contributes funding to a number of organisations to assist in the delivery of arts in education projects in schools.

I welcome this joint landmark Arts Council and ESRI study and its findings that Irish children who participate in artistic and cultural activities cope better with schoolwork and have more positive attitudes towards school later on than those who are less engaged. Of particular interest is the identified difference in participation rates across communities and the fact that families of young children with disabilities are highly engaged in cultural activities. As Minister, I am firmly committed to continuing the work of the ongoing partnership between the Department of Education and Skills, my Department and the Arts Council, in line with the arts in education charter.

I am pleased, therefore, that in the 2017 budget I have secured an additional €5 million for the Arts Council, an 8% increase in its annual budget. This additional funding will allow the council to continue to enhance support to artists and arts organisations around the country on both a small and large scale, including its very valuable work in progressing arts in education initiatives and ongoing research, as referred to by the Deputy.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister and I agree on the fact that there are major benefits for young children from access to the arts in that sphere of their lives. The report indicates that children from working-class backgrounds have less access to the arts and those benefits. Children with disabilities, especially in their younger years, have good access to the arts, but when they reach nine to 13 years of age that falls off considerably, those benefits recede as far as they are concerned. We also know that children with disabilities from working class backgrounds fare worse with regard to access. Children with disabilities from working class areas who do not live in the cities are at the bottom of the pile in terms of access. In many respects, they comprise a section of our society that is being denied these benefits. Why does the Minister not lock the spending of money in the arts to equality proofing? Why should it not be the case that one of the key performance indicators for every euro spent is that every section of Irish society gets a benefit?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I agree that there are huge benefits for children who are exposed to the arts. My Department supports Music Network by way of the music capital scheme, whereby instruments can be bought for children. Funding of €210,000 was provided under the scheme in 2016. In many cases, young people and groups might not have the necessary funding to purchase musical instruments and this scheme assists them with the cost. The arts in education charter is very good in that it facilitates artists going into schools. The Deputy is correct. I am anxious that all citizens and young people should obtain access to the arts because there are huge benefits in that. I am aware of that from when I worked in the credit union movement, which runs the well known annual Credit Union Art Competition. It had a special category for children with disabilities. Perhaps that is something we could examine in arts funding. I agree that it must be equality proofed and I will take that up with the Arts Council.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In any debate the Government can always point to a number of programmes which are good, no matter what we discuss. However, the point is that the general situation is not good. If one examines the sector in its entirety, there is not a positive delivery to different sectors, particularly disadvantaged sectors. The Minister has given a nebulous promise that at some time in the future the Government might focus on this issue but that is not good enough. Arts & Disability Ireland, ADI, has pointed to the massive challenges that exist with regard to improving programmes within the sector and to the fact that there is no continuity in policy direction and implementation related to including people with disabilities in the arts, despite the thorough documentation available. In line with Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will the Minister not take the opportunity to state that by the end of 2017, every euro spent by the Government on the arts will be equality-proofed in order that nobody will be left behind, regardless of whether they are from working class or rural areas or have disabilities? Will she give that commitment today?

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I know the Minister has been very supportive of the arts in education charter and, specifically, the local arts in education partnership. As the Minister is aware, we had a very good model in Cavan-Monaghan. There is an opportunity for equality proofing, getting into the heart of primary school children and giving them the opportunity to engage in and access arts and cultural activities. That partnership is intended for local authorities and education and training boards, which are at the heart of education. I know the Arts Council is very supportive of that notion as well. Dr. Katie Sweeney is the national director for the integration of the arts at the Department of Education and Skills. In terms of the Minister's budget and plans for 2017, is there anything specific for the development of local arts in education partnerships where the measure referred to by Deputy Tóibín could be rolled out?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We fund the arts in education charter. We increased the funding last year. I am very committed to it. It relates to young children accessing the arts and getting the opportunity to get involved in them at an early age. It is about doing this in schools. Targeting schools is the best opportunity to access all of the children, including children in disadvantaged areas. We need to get into all the schools. This is the best way to get young people involved in the arts.

In 2015, support from my Department totalled €129,000 for the arts in education. This included a payment of €60,000 to the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals for its work in arts in education. The Arts Council provides funding to a number of organisations to assist in the delivery of arts in education projects in schools. To be fair to the Arts Council, it does a lot of work in this area and provides support to Poetry Ireland's Writers in Schools scheme, which involves writers and storytellers visiting primary and post-primary schools. This is in addition to the Bringing to Book Artist-in-Residence scheme, which is a Children's Books Ireland project.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Is there any specific plan for the roll out of local arts in education partnerships? I accept what she said about the funding of €60,000 provided to the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals whose Creative Engagement scheme has been ongoing for years. Are there specific plans in the 2017 budget for the development or roll out of local arts in education partnerships nationally?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We continue to work with the Department of Education and Skills because two Departments are involved. We will continue to work on that and to develop the arts in education partnership. We need to support it more. I am certainly very conscious of it and will work on it.