Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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251. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the degree to which she directly or indirectly continues to engage with young persons in the context of an appreciation of the arts at all levels; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48253/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the Arts Act 2003, primary responsibility for the promotion and support of the arts, including arts participation by young people throughout the country, is devolved to the Arts Council. Under the Arts Act the Arts Council is independent in relation to its funding decisions.

In Budget 2018 I secured an additional €3 million for the Arts Council, a 5% increase in its annual budget bringing it to €68 million. This is in addition to the €5 million increase which I secured for the Council in Budget 2017. Arts Council funding has increased by 20% since 2014 greatly assisting the Council in implementing its 10-year strategy Making Great Art Work (2016-2025).

The Creative Ireland Programme, which I launched in December 2016, places a special focus on “Enabling the Creative Potential of Every Child”. Building on the Arts in Education Charter, this will involve the development of an integrated plan – Creative Children –to enable every child in Ireland to access tuition in music, drama, art and coding by 2022. My Department is collaborating with the Departments of Education and Skills and Children and Youth Affairs as well as the Arts Council in preparing the Creative Children plan to deliver the objectives of Pillar 1 of the Creative Ireland Programme. In 2018, I have allocated an additional €1m to the Creative Children project.

I am pleased to say that continuing professional development through teacher - artist partnerships is ongoing and in July 2017 there was a significant increase in the number of courses taking place across twenty-one Education Centres throughout the country.

The Arts Council commissioned report Arts and Cultural Participation among Children and Young People: Insights from the Growing Up in Ireland Study, which was published in September 2016, concluded that arts and cultural participation leads to a range of positive outcomes for children, both in terms of their cognitive development and their well-being. This study found that schools are important arenas for access to arts/culture and school emphasis on culture has a positive impact on student engagement in these activities.