Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Keaveney for raising this important matter which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Séamus Brennan, who is unavoidably absent.

Education in the arts is a lifelong learning experience involving a range of different people interacting with the arts in a variety of education settings. Primary and post primary schools are key education sites in providing for children and young people's education in the arts. Education functions to develop and nurture the young person's innate creativity and intelligence and facilitates their understanding of themselves and the complexities of the world in which they live. Arts education is fundamental to achieving these two functions of education.

I consider that the benefits of the arts for the individual are greatly increased if exposure to the arts takes place during a person's most formative years and for that reason it is a real priority that the position of the arts in our education system must be enhanced, as lucidly outlined by Senator Keaveney. With the introduction of new and revised arts curricula and syllabi at primary and post primary schools, an increasing number of teachers and schools looked towards national and local arts resources to enhance the teaching and learning of the arts curricula.

A degree of work and consideration of this emerging issue has taken place in recent years, for example, the production of the Artists in Schools Guidelines document in 2006, which was a joint project of the Department of Education and Science and the Arts Council, and the product of an extended period of research and consultation with policy makers, providers and practitioners in both the arts and education fields.

Against this background, and in view of the growing interest and awareness of the arts in our community and the important role it plays, it was decided in October 2006 that a special committee be 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 committee was established under section 21 of the Arts Act 2003, which makes provision for the establishment of special committees to advise the Council. This mechanism had been used earlier to establish the committee on the traditional arts.

The members of this special committee on arts and education, which was chaired by Mary Nunan of the Arts Council, were representative of the Arts Council, the National Centre for Training in Technology, the inspectorate from the Department of Education and Science and the National Association of School Principals and Deputy Principals.

In its deliberations the committee was to have regard to the wide-ranging demands on the school curriculum bearing in mind that responsibility for determining the content of the school curriculum rests with the Minister for Education and Science; the need to prioritise and cost its recommendations — these recommendations were to have regard both to their resource implications for the Arts Council and the fact that the budgetary resources likely to be available over the next four years to the Minister for Education and Science for the development of services in the education sector must be allocated to fund existing policy commitment; subject to the foregoing, the identification of what additional sources of funding, if any, might be available to fund its recommendations; and the roles and partnerships that are appropriate for relevant State and other agencies and bodies in this context, including the Department of Education and Science, the Arts Council, vocational education committees and local authorities.

The focus of the special committee's advice was to be on making specific deliverable recommendations for implementation over three to five years. The committee carried out its role thoroughly and conscientiously inviting public involvement through a series of focus groups, written submissions, invited speakers and special advisers as well as drawing on its own areas of expertise and research. In the course of its deliberations, it considered more than 90 public submissions and conducted three focus group meetings.

As is known, the special committee finalised its work last year and presented its draft report to the Ministers for Arts, Sport and Tourism and Education and Science for consideration. This is the first such study of its nature for some considerable time and the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism took the view that a reasoned and practical approach should be adopted to considering its recommendations, which reflect the result of the wide-ranging and indepth research conducted by the committee and for which I and the Minister wish to congratulate it.

Having considered the draft report, therefore, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism organised a series of meetings between its officials and those of the Department of Education and Science and the Arts Council to consider the recommendations of the report. This interagency working group is currently in the process of identifying ways to give practical effect to the crucial recommendations of the draft report and is drawing up specific actions designed to respond effectively and efficiently to its conclusions. Work is progressing well and we are confident that announcements on the next steps to be taken will be possible in the near future.

I am mindful of the anticipation of those in the sector for the publication of this report. The publication of the report of the arts and education committee is a matter for the Arts Council, as the committee's remit was to advise the 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. We would be failing in our duty, however, if we did not have ready the necessary actions to facilitate, as far as possible and practicable in the current environment, the proposals recommended in this report.

I point out that the preparation of a report such as this should be viewed as a positive step in the evolution of the arts in our society. Giving the arts a higher, more consistent profile at both primary and post-primary levels can bring significant benefits to the students concerned and, ultimately, to society in general. It is important to stress that this applies to all students and not only to those who are recognised as being particularly gifted artistically. As is the case in sport, because the future of the arts in Ireland resides with our children, it is vital that the arts are embedded in our education system at all levels.

I would also point out that it is due in no small measure to the massive investments made in recent years by this Government to the capital and everyday costs of the myriad of arts entities throughout the country that this debate is taking place.

In the past five years, for instance, the Department for Arts, Sport and Tourism has allocated a total of €90 million towards the cost of providing vital arts and cultural infrastructure and venues for communities to present the arts in all its forms. Complementary to this the Arts Council has seen its resources increase exponentially from €47.67 million in 2002 to its present allocation of €82 million in 2008, an increase of over 72%. The Arts Council, in turn, has at all times pursued a policy of engaging with young people, whether through its specific programmes or by its support of existing organisations that specialise in arts in education interventions, such as The Ark and Team in Dublin, Graffiti Theatre in Cork and Cups and Crowns Educational Theatre in Galway. These are signs of a maturity in our arts role and the integration of the arts into every aspect of our society. The outcome of the special committee on arts and education will be a further piece in the jigsaw of this exciting and wide-ranging arts and education spectrum.

Again, on behalf of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, I thank Senator Keaveney for giving us the opportunity to bring this positive story to the notice of the Seanad. I assure her that I will bring the contents of her contribution to the attention of the Minister. I take this opportunity to compliment the Senator on her work as a former chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs over a number of years. With her special expertise and interest in the arts, she gave that committee great leadership. Her interest, knowledge and expertise in this area is welcome in the Oireachtas but, unfortunately, we do not often get the opportunity to listen to her play great music on a variety of musical instruments.