Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

The last time I raised this issue was in December 2007. The issue is the sub-committee on education and the arts under the Arts Act 2003. I was Chairman of the Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs when it dealt with the Arts Bill. As a result of the Arts Act coming into force, the then Minister, Deputy John O'Donoghue, agreed to establish sub-committees to examine special areas of interest.

The first sub-committee formed examined the traditional arts. I was pleased, as was Senator Ó Murchú, with the results of that sub-committee because it established not only the priority that should be given to the traditional arts but also a funding mechanism of €3 million in that year.

The second sub-committee, on arts and education, was established in 2004. Its report was to have been finalised in May 2007. I and many others involved in the arts consider the link between arts and education very important, especially now as we battle the economic recession and recognise the need for creative and entrepreneurial citizens who can add to the variety of employers and employees in our communities. Last week at a Council of Europe meeting in Paris the OECD referred to the challenges in producing these entrepreneurs to assist us in emerging from the recession. My point then and now was and is that the education system must be reformed internationally to encourage and support creative thought from the youngest ages instead of imparting facts and effectively smothering such free thinking and exploration that is found through engagement with the arts. This is virtually ignored at a statutory level.

However, I would say that, given my background as a musician. I have researched the issue of how young people's involvement in music changes the shape of their brains and their ability to cope with life, education, co-ordination and many other core features of reality. In later years, exposure to music gives them a better ability to cope with diseases and syndromes that might affect them as they grow older. One cannot overstate the role of music in personal development.

What has emerged from the sub-committee on arts and education? What effort has been made to deliver a joint approach from the Arts Council, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment? Until this sub-committee was formed, if one asked a question of the Minister for Education and Science about the arts, he or she would reply that it was a matter for the Arts Council and if one asked the same question of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, he or she would reply that it was an education matter. It went from Billy to Jack. What I sought was a report that had the imprimatur and acceptance of both Departments. What has been received to date, half way through 2009, as a result of the Arts Act of 2003?

The Arts Council cannot impose its will on the education system. At the same time, the education system, having produced various reports on the arts, cannot provide all the expertise needed for music education. Music is supposed to be part of the curriculum in primary school and it is a subject in the leaving certificate examinations. It provides an important opportunity for personal development for people like me.

I declare again my interest in that I have a BMus, MPhil, PGCE, LTCL and as many letters as one probably would want. Music provided me with a career opportunity and although it may not do so for everyone, it gives everyone the opportunity to improve their quality of life, now and in the future.

It is vital not only for the arts but for forthcoming generations and their ability to live their lives in an imaginative and new manner that the results arrived at by the sub-committee, which was set up following a brave battle, are disclosed, published and pursued. The Arts Council presented the former Minister and Deputy, the late Séamus Brennan, with the sub-committee report in 2007. As the report had not yet been published it was deemed inappropriate to comment on its recommendations in December 2007 when I last raised this issue. The special committee's remit was to make specific recommendations for implementation over three to five years. Time is passing.

I am aware that I will again hear great endorsements by the Departments of the key role of the arts in education, but surely it is time to engage seriously in delivering now, in association with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Forfás and all the State agencies involved in job creation and the targeting of resources. Is it not time to prioritise our primary and pre-primary children so their innovation will deliver change and not more of the same in years to come?

The Minister was considering the report in late 2007. He intended to discuss it with his colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, and with the Arts Council. The personnel involved have changed in that time. The Minister's officials had bilateral discussions with the Department of Education and Science and the Arts Council. All three parties were due to meet in early 2008 to discuss its recommendations in further detail. Are those discussions ongoing? Is it still premature for the Minister to comment further? I believe it is time for action.