Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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75. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her attention has been drawn to the new culture grant in Italy, whereby every 18 year old in the country is entitled to €500 to be spent on cultural endeavours such as concert or theatre tickets, language courses or books; if she has considered introducing a similar incentive for young persons here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4134/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is aware of this Italian initiative which was discussed at the Cultural Affairs meeting in Brussels. The Italian representative had flagged this incentive in the on-going discussions in the context of the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018.

The Government’s priorities in relation to cultural engagement with young people are set out in The Creative Ireland Programmewhich the Taoiseach and I launched on the 8^thof December last. This is the Government’s Legacy Programme for Ireland 2016 and the main implementation vehicle for the priorities identified in Culture 2025/Éire Ildánachthe draft framework policy which I published in July last year. It is a five-year initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which places creativity at the centre of public policy. It is built around five pillars the first of which is the ‘Enabling the Creative Potential of Every Child’. Arising out of this my Department will be working with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs over the coming months to develop a plan so that by 2022 every child in Ireland will have access to tuition in music, drama, art and coding.

The full Creative Ireland programme is available on www.creative.ireland.ie.