Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I wish to raise the need for the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism to press for the launching and funding of the report of the sub-committee on arts and education under the Arts Council which relates to the Departments of Arts, Sport and Tourism and Education and Science. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, with responsibility for children, Deputy Smith, who has an interest in the development of children and their rights to which, in a way, this is also related.

As a Deputy I was Chairman of the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs when the new Arts Act, which has been in force for a couple of years, was going through the Houses of the Oireachtas. We spent many months receiving correspondence on elements of the Arts Bill. There was nothing as controversial in the Bill as what was not in it. One of the most important items which seemed to be absent was how to deal with matters closely connected to the arts which were seemingly abandoned at that point in time.

An issue which received priority and precedence was traditional arts. What constituted "traditional arts" caused its own controversy and we had some fun over a long period of time dealing with that aspect. The conclusion was that a section was inserted in the Arts Act which enabled the Arts Council to form sub-committees on issues of importance. It was deemed a sub-committee would come together for a brief specified period of time and present a report which would be acted upon to resolve the issue.

The first sub-committee was on traditional arts and the procedure seemed to be exceptionally well organised for this sub-committee. The report came back relatively quickly. The response was funding of €3 million that year and subsequent funding in other years. It seems the traditional arts have been quite satisfied with the recognition they received.

The second sub-committee established, again under pressure, was on the arts in education. This sub-committee was to report back by May last year. However, the report has not yet been published. Why is this and when will it be published and funded?

Why is arts in education important? I am a music teacher by background so I am the wrong person to present the case because I am biased. The arts play a major role in a child's development. What is language? Language is a rhythmic pattern. What is music? It is a rhythmic pattern. What does a child need to start? It is movement. What is movement? Physical movement involves co-ordination. What better develops co-ordination than a baby hitting a drum with a stick or a child trying to play the recorder? Anybody who tries to play the recorder moves certain fingers and leaves others down. I challenge most non-musical adults to try; they will have great difficulty. Hand-eye co-ordination comes from the work which music can do. It is fundamental, particularly for children aged up to six years of age, and we must invest in it.

In recent months, we have seen more descriptions of the use of music in special schools, for example, bringing speech to and reducing repetitive behaviour in some autistic children. It is both a stimulator and a soother in special schools. The use of music therapy is also valuable in other areas, such as strokes. I am diverging slightly, but we never challenge the idea that a physiotherapist will recover a person's ability to walk after a hip operation. We challenge, however, the concept of a music therapist to try to bring back speech after a stroke, a coma or an acquired brain injury or recognition after a coma. Music can keep our mental health stable most of the time. If one faces medical problems, music can help. It is not good enough that this report is on the shelf before it has been launched. A great deal of work went into it on both the arts and education side.

Music is a curriculum subject. One can get a substantial mark for a practical performance in the leaving certificate and yet a music teacher in a secondary school does not have to teach the practical side of the subject. Can one imagine studying leaving certificate art and never using a paint brush or studying science and never using a Bunsen burner? However, one is expected to study music and become a performer without ever having been taught to become one. That is a core issue in the curriculum.

Music is a core part of people's lives from birth to death. It has the ability to assist in core functions and in our quality of life from birth to death. It is fundamental to one's development in one's early years and continues to be at many stages. Although a core part of our lives, it is very much taken for granted, especially when one considers the amount of money spent on the arts compared to sport, for example. I have been told I should be very excited because the Arts Council is getting more money than ever. I am excited about it but it is not what it should be and that is why I am adamant that this report is launched.

I would like us to get an anniversary present this May, if not before, and that the report is not only launched but funded.