Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending. It is with considerable relief and a welcome that society and the economy are reopening significantly today. I am conscious the Government needs to be cautious about easing restrictions, but we still have no guidance as to when music, dance and drama classes can recommence. This is the simple question I wish to raise with the Minister of State. It is not acceptable that we are still waiting for such guidance. I had hoped the Minister for arts and culture could attend the Chamber, but I welcome the Minister of State's presence to answer in her place.As the Minister of State will be aware, dance, drama and in-person music classes have been suspended since the countrywide introduction last October of the level 3 restrictions that were in place in Donegal and Dublin prior to that. Young children, teenagers and young adults have been waiting almost one year for the return of in-person classes. I do not need to tell the Minister of State the seriousness of this situation for the teachers. Music teachers are regularly relaying to me their frustration about the investments they made in perspex last year so that they could safely conduct in-person classes and dance teachers are telling me about the socially distanced placement of ballet bars and other equipment in dance studios and community halls. They are worried because there has been a fall-off in numbers as some children have not been able to access classes via Zoom because of broadband issues and others did not want to, or felt unable to, do that. There is a question as to whether they will return in numbers. More important, this is about the children and young adults.

We have heard so much about the need to look after the mental health of our children, particularly teenagers, during this pandemic. I am struck that we in this country have a very narrow perspective of what education means. All the focus has been on getting children back into the classroom in their primary or secondary schools. There has been no recognition that engagement with the creative arts is also a part of their education and, for many, an essential part of it. We need to have a debate about what constitutes a child's education in this country, in particular post pandemic.

I am asking for clear guidance today. I am reminded of the conversations I have had with the Dublin Youth Theatre and others, in which they told me of the efforts they have made to conduct classes via Zoom. For many others, children have not been able to engage because they have not been able to carve out a safe space in their houses to be able to participate. I know this is a broader issue for the arts sector as a whole and I am conscious that the National Campaign for the Arts has been engaging with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media with regard to reopening guidance. I do not think it is acceptable that on 10 May, as the economy and society reopen, we do not have guidance on the reopening of a service that is a vital part of the education, development and well-being of children and young adults.

I am looking forward to, hopefully, hearing some positive news from the Minister of State in his response to this matter.