Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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623. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to ensure the better integration of the arts into education and broadening the focus on science, technology, engineering and maths, STEM, into science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, STEAM; and to expand the ambition and resourcing of the Arts in Education Charter and to continue to work with the Department of Education and Skills to further enhance the position of arts subjects within the curriculum at primary and secondary level. [13613/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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While the provision for arts in the education system and the content of the school curriculum is primarily a matter for the Department of Education and Skills, I am firmly committed to continuing the work of the ongoing partnership between that Department, my own Department and the Arts Council, in line with the Arts in Education Charter. In this regard, I am pleased that the Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the continued implementation of the Arts in Education Charter.

The development of Ireland’s first national culture policy - Culture 2025 - will also be relevant in terms of acknowledging the importance of supporting cultural engagement across wider policy areas. The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the publication of Culture 2025 as a priority and I intend to submit the draft policy to Government for consideration in the coming weeks. As I have stated previously, this first such policy will be a living document and will form the basis of an on-going dialogue with all relevant sectors, including the education sector.