Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 38: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will provide details of the recently launched Government Arts and Education Committee charged with increasing exposure to the arts in schools here; his views on whether there is insufficient reference to the arts in the early stages of education; when this committee will produce its recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34806/06]

Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the guidelines set down for the recently appointed Standing Committee on the Arts in Education; if the primary school sector is represented on the Committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34704/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 42 together.

Government policy for the Arts is set out in the Programme for Government and elaborated further in my Department's Statement of Strategy. Having regard for the statutory functions of the Arts Council as set out in Section 9 of the Arts Act 2003, and in accordance with section 21 of that Act, a Special Committee has been 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 should deliver its advice to the Council by 1st May 2007.

The five person Committee will be chaired by Mary Nunan, Arts Council member. The other members will be Jerome Morrissey, National Centre for Training in Technology, Mr. Pat MacSitric, Asst Chief Inspector, Department of Education and Science, Mr. Derek West, former Principal, Newpark Comprehensive School and Chair of NAPD Arts & Culture Committee and Orlaith McBride, Arts Council member.

Acknowledging the contribution that the Arts can make to a rounded and balanced educational experience, the Committee will have regard to

(a) the wide range of 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;

(b) the need to prioritise and cost its recommendations; these recommendations must have regard both to their resource implications for the Arts Council and also to the fact that the budgetary resources likely to be available over the next four years to the Minister for Education and Science for development of services in the education sector must be allocated to fund existing policy commitments;

(c) subject to (b) above, the identification of what additional sources of funding, if any, might be available to fund its recommendations; and

(d) 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 should be on making specific deliverable recommendations for implementation over three to five years.

I believe that by giving the arts a higher, more consistent profile at both primary and second level, we can not only benefit the arts, but can also bring significant benefits to the students concerned, which will stay with them for all of their lives. It is important also to stress that this applies to all students, and not just to those who are recognised as being particularly gifted artistically.

Every parent in the country wants their children to be creative, to be imaginative, and to express this creativity and imagination as best as they can. Because the future of the arts in Ireland rests with our children, it is vital that the Arts are embedded into our education system at a fundamental level, beginning at primary and pre-primary level, and continuing on from there. I have always believed 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 of mine to enhance the position of the arts in our education system.