Vol. 431 No. 7
82 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he intends to fund youth clubs and youth arts activities in order to ensure that arts and culture are fully integrated into youth work organisations; and the policy initiatives, if any, he intends to take in this area.
Responsibility for funding initiatives such as those raised by the Deputy rests with An Chomhairle Ealaíon. I recently had the pleasure of launching "Making Youth Arts Work", the final report of the National Youth Arts Committee. This committee was established in 1990 to undertake policy development in the area of youth arts (the arts experiences of young people ouside of schools) and was a joint initiative by an Chomhairle Ealaíon and the National Youth Council of Ireland.
Broadly speaking, the report identifies the need for a policy led and co-ordinated approach to the development of youth arts by organisations with responsibility in this area, namely the Youth Affairs section of the Department of Education, An Chomhairle Ealaíon, national and local agencies involved in youth services work, youth and arts organisations.
I understand that the recommendations of the report have been adopted by An Chomhairle Ealaíon and will be further considered in the context of a formal liaison committee currently being established between An Chomhairle and the Department of Education.
I believe that initiatives such as this will help ensure that youth organisations are in a position to offer young people an opportunity to develop their interest in the whole area of arts and culture. This will reap long term benefits in terms of enhanced participation in the arts to the benefit of society in general.
