Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2021
339. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the guidelines for reopening Irish dance classes (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25696/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am acutely conscious of the importance of dance and dance classes as sources of well-being and creativity as well as being a professional career choice for dance practitioners and I can assure the Deputy that I am engaging on an ongoing basis with Government colleagues on the importance of opening up facilities that support all art forms including dance, as soon as the epidemiological situation improves. In the meantime, the Arts Council has worked with my Department to develop guidance for children and young people’s arts and cultural activities. The guidance was recently published on the Arts Council’s website.
This guidance will continue to be updated in line with any relevant changes to public health measures in the coming months. This guidance was reviewed by my Department’s external Health and Safety advisors to ensure compliance with:
- The Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021 – The Path Ahead;
- The Government’s Stay Safe Guidelines;
- The Government’s Work Safely Protocols.
The guidelines will assist those engaging in arts and cultural activities with children to provide a safe and controlled environment which will mitigate against the risk of spreading COVID-19. This guidance is a living document, which means that as government restrictions and public-health guidelines evolve, this document will also evolve to reflect new government advice and changes to protocols as they emerge. The Arts Council’s Young People, Children and Education guidance may be used for organised cultural activities for children and young people, including early-childhood arts activities and arts training and education services that are delivered outside of early learning-and-care, formal education and youth-work contexts.
The Guidance is available the following link:
http://www.artscouncil.ie/uploadedFiles/wwwartscouncilie/Content/Contact_us/COVID-19/YPCE%20C-19%20Reopening%20Guidelines_April%202021.doc.pdf.
Dance classes are included with organised indoor and outdoor events. The Path Ahead Framework sets out when it is considered that organised indoor or outdoor events can take place. Since 10 May 2021 organised outdoor gatherings with a maximum attendance of 15 people can take place. In all these cases robust protocols and protective measures, including appropriate supervision and capacity limits, should be in place.
The Government’s COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 - The Path Ahead plan sets out the Government’s objectives for the full recovery of social life, public services and the economy. The government has decided to move ahead with this The Path Ahead plan. We are now in the early stages of the Recovery phase of the pandemic. The decision is based on advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), that a cautious and gradual phased reopening over May and June, with an emphasis on outdoor activity and a moderate increase in social contact, can be considered low to medium risk. NPHET has advised that there is scope to ease a range of public health measures in this manner with sufficient time between any easing of measures to assess the impact. This allows us to continue through the Recovery phase, focusing on what is safest and generates the most benefit and with a focus on outdoors activities – both social and economic.
