Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 2004 > Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs > Report No. 04 - The Effectiveness of Investment in Sport and the Arts as a Deterrent Against Youth Substance Abuse

TITHE AN OIREACHTAIS

An Comhchoiste um Ghnóthaí Ealaíon, Spóirt, Turasóireachta, Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta

An Ceathrú Tuarascáil

Éifeachtacht na hInfheistíochta sa Spórt agus sna hEalaíona chun an tAos Óg a Chur ó Mhí-Úsáid Substaintí

HOUSES OF THE OIREACHTAS

Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs

Fourth Report

The Effectiveness of Investment in Sport and the Arts as a Deterrent Against Youth Substance Abuse

Aibreán 2004
April 2004

A Report
by the Joint
Committee on Arts,
Sport, Tourism, Community,
Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs.

The Effectiveness of Investment in Sport and the Arts as a Deterrent Against Youth Substance Abuse: A Rapporteur Study by

Damien English T.D.
Fiona O’Malley T.D.
Researcher : Patrick Brennan

Table of Contents

Preface

In accordance with its Orders of Reference and conscious of the importance of the subject the Joint Committee decided to prepare a Report on the Effectiveness of Investment in Sport and the Arts as a Deterrent to Youth Substance Abuse. As a part of this work the Joint Committee appointed two Rapporteurs, Deputy Damien English and Deputy Fiona O’Malley, to research the subject and bring the conclusions of their research to the committee.

This Report is the product of a substantive body of work over the last number of years consisting of two principal elements: research and consultation. The Joint Committee considered an extensive range of recent reports and undertook a comprehensive review of relevant national and international literature. The consultation process involved seeking the views of a broad range of interested parties, both private individuals and representatives of various organisations. The joint committee wishes to express its gratitude to all concerned for their patience, for their cooperation, and particularly for giving so freely of their time and expertise.

This Report therefore incorporates the work of the Rapporteurs as it does the conclusions and recommendations of the Members of the Joint Committee. We anticipate that the Ministers and Departments of Arts, Sport, and Tourism; Education and Science; and Health and Children may be in a position to put their thoughts on record post the publication of this Report and trust that at least some of the recommendations will meet not only with approval but also with action.

Definitions

Sport

Conceptions of what actually constitutes sport vary greatly. Sport is used in this report as a generic term encompassing an extremely wide range of physical activities and recreational pursuits, whether casual or organised, whose aim is to express or improve physical fitness and mental well-being, forming relationships or obtaining results in competitions of all levels.

Arts

The term arts can be defined as the participation in creative, cultural or expressive activity which includes, but is not limited to, music (instrumental and vocal), dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture and allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft arts, industrial design, costume and fashion design, motion pictures, television, radio, tape and sound recording, the arts related to the presentation, performance, execution and exhibition of major art forms, and the study and application of the arts to the human environment.

Substance Abuse

For the purpose of this report the term substance abuse is defined as the excessive or addictive use of psychotropic substances for non-medical purposes. Psychotropic substances affect the user’s mental state and are used to produce changes in mood, feeling and perception.

Youth

For the purposes of this report youth are defined as persons who have not yet attained the age of 18 years.

“Mankind owes to the child the best it has to give.”

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Introduction

Substance abuse, be it alcohol, cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy or any other drug, is endemic in Irish society; a cancer which transcends all socio-economic boundaries and is prevalent in every echelon of Irish Society. Their increased availability and accessibility – due to reduced costs and prevailing social attitudes – has precipitated the dawn of a more brutal Ireland, where society is dissolving; 10 year olds injecting drugs, gangs of inebriated youths terrorising the elderly and orgies of wanton violence on our housing estates.

What we must realise is that tackling the drug problem is about tackling the underlying factors which give rise to the demand for drugs. In essence, there is a tremendous need for governing bodies to seriously examine alternative, preventative and non-stigmatising ways of tackling our substance abuse problem.

The role and power of development-focused activities for reaching, engaging and transforming youth: the arts, music and sport, have been largely ignored in this country. Sport and arts activities impact positively on mental well-being and provide an effective vehicle through which personal and social development in young people can be positively affected. Desirable psychological correlatives, which have been enumerated, include improved self-image, self-discipline and cognitive functioning (Morris, 2003). Sport and the arts can impact positively and directly on behavioural risk factors which may otherwise lead to the propensity to abuse various substances.

This report is in four parts. The first chapter will document the prevalence of youth substance abuse in Irish Society. The two subsequent chapters will examine the effectiveness of investment in sport and the arts as a deterrent to substance abuse and analyse the current state of provision for the arts and sport for young people in Ireland. Chapter four outlines the conclusions and recommendations of the rapporteurs as well as those of the Joint Committee..

The Context for action on Substance abuse

1.1 Introduction

This chapter will set the context for this report by documenting the prevalence of both licit and illicit drug use among young people in Ireland today. The findings from a number of authoritative studies conducted at local and regional level throughout the country will be reviewed along with reports from a European perspective.

1.2 Alcohol

Alcohol is the most ubiquitous drug in Irish society. This is not by chance, as it is also the most accepted and popular drug in Ireland. The normalisation and social sanctioning of this drug has allowed it to become a common part of the daily lives of our citizens – both adults and young people.

Over the last number of years, the European Schools Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) have developed a system for examining, detecting and understanding trends in drug use throughout Europe. In the context of Europe, young Irish people are carrying cultural baggage – and, unfortunately of a negative kind. Irish teenagers surveyed for the 1999 ESPAD report ranked, for alcohol consumption, among the top 5 of all countries surveyed. This was a dramatic upward surge since the previous study, conducted in 1995.

Even more worrying is the propensity of young people in Ireland to drink to intoxication, whereas our European counterparts tend not to drink to such intoxicating levels. A recent MRBI Poll for the Irish Times highlighted the proliferation of binge drinking, with one in ten admitting that they were so inebriated the last time they drank that they could not stand. Many commentators believe that this proliferation of excessive and binge drinking is caused by both the young persons search for a ‘buzz’ and the introduction of ‘designer’ or ‘fashion’ drinks into the market by the drinks industry.

According to a 2002 World Health Organisation (WHO) survey, 29 per cent of Irish School Children between the ages of 13 and 17 had a drink in the last 28 days and Irish children as young as nine are beginning to drink. The general finding was that between the ages of 13 and 17, 61% of boys and 52 % of girls had used alcohol. Both the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) have commented that the abuse of alcohol in Ireland is so widespread, that it is ‘commonplace’ for pupils to miss school completely or turn up to school with a ‘hangover’.

Yet, Irish Society still tacitly accepts under-age over-indulgence as a necessary rite of passage. The tolerance is baffling. “There is such a huge emphasis on drugs and parents tend to think ‘at least they’re only drinking’ – yet alcohol is still the drug that creates the greatest problems”, according to Gerry Cooney, clinical co-ordinator at the Rutland Centre. A study of youth attendance in Accident and Emergency indicated that alcohol was a factor in 25% of cases (Brasil and Sheehan, 2001). Alcohols’ relationship to the proliferation of street crime is well documented and alcohol features regularly in criminal court cases involving young people. In terms of youth crime figures in Ireland, it is now known that an overwhelming 48% of all offences involve alcohol. This statistic encompasses 88% of public disorder offences, 48% of offences against the person and 54% of all criminal damage offences (An Garda Siochana Annual Reports). Excessive alcohol consumption has also been linked to depression and the Report of the National Task Force on Suicide names access to alcohol as an increasingly significant factor in late teenage suicides (AHPI, 2002)

1.3 Tobacco Consumption

In his opening address at a conference on legislating for a Tobacco Free Society, Micheal Martin, Minister for Health and Children made the following comment about the use of tobacco in modern day society, “…What were talking about is an epidemic as deadly as any suffered by human kind throughout the centuries.” (Forkan, 2003)

A qualitative survey in November 2003 by the North Eastern Health Board found that the lifetime prevalence for smoking was 50.8%. This represents a decrease from the rate observed in the 1997 study (57.1%) and, in particular the decline was found to be most substantial among males. This rate of 50.8% was found to be significantly lower than the average European rate found by the European Schools Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) in 1999. An MRBI poll conducted on behalf of the Irish Times in 2003, found that the average age at which youngsters begin smoking is now fourteen. Albeit tobacco consumption among young people would appear to have reached its zenith and is now embarking on a downward spiral, the present levels of consumption is still entirely unacceptable.

1.4 Illicit Drug Use

In this section we will review the situation in respect of non-opiates such as cannabis, amphetamines, Ecstasy and cocaine as well as inhalants and heroin.

Adam was recently admitted to the drug advisory and treatment centre in Dublin. He was found to be abusing a cocktail of drugs including diconal, cocaine and heroin for 18 months. It was discovered that he was suffering from a chronic hepatitis B infection with cirrhosis. Adam is 9 years old.

1.4.1 Cannabis

Of all drugs available, cannabis emerges as the most commonly abused drug by young people (EMCDDA,1999). The survey concluded that 35% of schoolchildren between the ages of 15 and 16 use cannabis, the second highest figure among EU states. The European Schools Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) 1999, found that 4 out of every 10 Irish teenagers admit to have used the drug, twice the rate of most other European states. The North Eastern Health Board qualitative survey of 2003, found that many respondents perceived the use of cannabis as innocuous despite its links to heart disease, lung cancer, depression and schizophrenia.

1.4.2 Ecstasy

Despite its potentially catastrophic side effects, Irelands young people are only out-stripped by Latvia in terms of the lifetime prevalence of Ecstasy use.12% of young people surveyed admitted to have experimented with ecstasy in their lifetime (Irish Times, September 2003). It is then perhaps little wonder that of all the countries surveyed by the EMCDDA, Ireland has the highest drug abuse related fatality rate.

1.4.3 Inhalants

Authors of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD) as well the 2003 North Eastern Health Board study, laid bare a new phenomenon in this country; the abuse of inhalants including solvents, cleaning agents and anaesthetics. The disturbing and intolerable findings included the fact that 22% of boys and 21% of girls under 18 claimed to have used inhalants with even children as young as 5 abusing these substances (NEHB 2003).

As is widely known, inhalants can cause death from heart or respiratory failure and long-term side effects include permanent organ damage as well as impaired information-processing abilities. Although it is exceptionally difficult to obtain exact figures as to the deaths due to solvents abuse, Youth Organisations and Garda figures point to in excess of 8 deaths per annum.

1.4.4 Heroin & Cocaine

Anecdotal evidence would suggest that many believe that heroin and cocaine exist on the very extremities of young people’s continuum of acceptability and are therefore eschewed by today’s youth. This unfortunately is not the case. Due to increased accessibility and reduction in cost, heroin abuse among young people is escalating. According to Mr David Connolly, Chairman of the Ballyfermot Drugs task force, children as young as 9 are heroin addicts in Dublin. The Aislinn Adolescent Addiction treatment centre, Ballyraget, Co Kilkenny has witnessed a worrying rise of 6% in those addicted to heroin. It would also appear that heroin is moving out of its traditional strongholds and is being introduced to a new generation and category of young person whose initiation to the drug is frightening easy as they can smoke it in cigarettes. Despite the high costs and the potentially catastrophic side effects, cocaine abuse also appears to be on an upward trend among young people. Nine percent of those aged 15-17 interviewed in a recent MRBI poll on behalf of the Irish Times, admitted to have used cocaine at least once.

1.5 Conclusion

Whichever indicator is used, there is little doubt that the prevalence of youth substance abuse has continued to rise and shows little sign of leaving its current steep upward trajectory. In Ireland we are moving towards the normalisation of recreational drug use. We need to understand the processes at work here, question why our young people are abusing drugs and realise what curtailing endemic drug use should involve. We must realise that tackling the drug problem is about tackling the underlying factors, which give rise to the demand for drugs. Young people are being marginalized and pushed out of Irish society. Boredom and disillusionment emerge as consistent features of young people’s accounts of daily lives( Mayock, 2002). Drugs are readily available and provide a valid response to an environment with little else to offer.

We were just bored…I’d say that had a bit to do with it. You’re sitting there and say ‘f^*** sake’ and then you have a smoke or take something. That’s the difference between being stoned and not stoned. When you’re not stoned you have nothing to do and when you’re stoned you’ve lotsa things to do.

Sabrina, 13 years old (Childrens Research Centre, 2000)

The subsequent chapters will advocate sport and the arts as an essential component of a broader, child-centred, multi tiered strategy for substance abuse prevention in this country.

Sport as a Deterrent

“Sport is imposing order on what was chaos.”

Anthony Starr

2.1 Introduction

In this section, we will explore the deterrence hypothesis, the idea that participation in sport reduces the likelihood of substance abuse among young people. Drug use prevention is not the primary objective of sport and physical activity but it is an extremely positive by-product.

Scientifically rigorous research in this area is virtually non-existent in Ireland. This is surprising, perhaps, when one considers that in many countries the relationship between sport and delinquency has long been a central issue of the sociology of sport. A century of international deviance literature documents that sport and physical activity can successfully eradicate the underlying causes of substance abuse among young people (Cameroon 2000). Sport in early childhood has a considerable impact on physical, psychological, social and intellectual development. It promotes reasonable behaviours, forms character and identity and enhances overall well-being.

According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, sport programs provide an effective vehicle through which personal and social development in young people can be positively affected thereby making substance abuse a less attractive option. Together with the obvious physiological benefits, sport has been shown to improve emotional and cognitive skills including self-esteem, problem solving and leadership qualities (Morris, 2003). Other desirable psychological correlatives of sport include improved self-image and self-confidence, reduced anxiety and stress and reduced boredom, which in turn reduce feelings of depression, distractibility and loneliness. Sport is also seen as a diversion, as providing an alternative high and provides a socially approved arena for opportunities for excitement and risk-taking. (Robbins 1990)

2.2 Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence

The Centre for Criminological Research at the University of Oxford, believe that young people get involved in substance abuse because of low-esteem. This comes about because young people who have low self-esteem are more susceptible to the influences of their peers than others. In addition, low self-esteem may be a negative state which of itself makes young people want to escape the reality of negative feelings towards themselves. Evidence has shown that young people with low self-esteem are particularly inclined to experiment along forbidden lines such as smoking, drinking and drug abuse.

Evidence suggests that sports activities improves young people’s perception of themselves and improves self-confidence (Wilbert, 1998). Self-esteem and self-confidence equip young people with the ability to withstand the temptation to experiment with drugs and strengthens assertiveness. A recent Irish project has borne this theory out. Alison O’Reilly, Child Psychologist and National Training Co-ordinator with the ISPCC believes that sport and physical activity have a pivotal role to play in the battle against youth substance abuse. The ISPCC, in conjunction with the AIB Better Ireland Scheme, has piloted a mentoring scheme which targets at risk young people and introduces them to a sporting activity. For the initial six months, an ISPCC volunteer accompanies the child to the activity after which the child is left to pursue the activity by his/herself. Alison O’Reilly believes that the scheme provides a protective environment to foster the child’s confidence and self-esteem and although in its infancy, a recent rigorous evaluation provided evidence of reduced incidence of substance abuse among participants. The ISPCC are currently planning to expand the scheme.

2.3 Sport as a diversion

Much anti-social behaviour is a function of boredom and is opportunity led. If young people have other goals, activities and pursuits they are less likely to be involved in substance abuse. Sport has long been advocated as a means of deterring socially undesirable behaviours, preventing boredom and alienation. Sport provides young people with an alternative ‘buzz’ and socially acceptable opportunities for risk-taking. (Utting 2003) The National Institute of Drug abuse in the US suggests that illicit drug abuse becomes a less attractive option for young people when they are involved in constructive sporting activities. Analysis shows that providing young people with positive alternatives for their leisure time such as sporting activities prevents boredom which in turn reduces depression, distractibility and loneliness. (Morris 2003).

One diversionary program adopted in Canada is known as PALS. It was initiated to divert young people from anti-social behaviour by involving them in physical activity. It was implemented in a housing complex where 417 children between the ages of 5 and 15 lived. It offered skill development programs in activities such as judo, swimming and soccer. The program was effective as a substance abuse prevention strategy to the extent that during the course of the PALS program, there were fewer incidents of substance abuse at the housing complex.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform currently allocates funding for fifty-one community based Garda Special Projects (GSPs) from the Garda Budget. GSPs are all based in disadvantaged areas and aim to divert young people from becoming involved in criminal/anti-social behaviour. Projects tend to work in small groups providing a range of arts and sports activities. An evaluation of the projects completed by the Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin in 2000, concluded that the young participants had made positive changes, particularly in relation to the reduction of minors offending and substance abuse and in terms of ‘development and acquisition of personal skills and ability…responsibility and self confidence’. (Bowden 2000)

2.4 Respect and Self-Discipline

The sports environment encourages deferred gratification and hard work, which lead to increased self-discipline and self-control (Mandelzis, 1998). The participant must respect the rules of the game. The rules and spirit of sport can have a profound effect on young people. The values of respect and fair play are powerful as they are values which are transferable to all facets of a young persons life. The GAA code of conduct refers to the ‘rights, dignity and worth of every person’ and believes that participation in the games will engender self-respect and respect for ones opponent.

2.5 Leadership, Empowerment, Positive Relationships and Role Models

According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, consulting youth in sporting program development, involving them in decisions about activity types and having them actually organise activities were found to improve qualities such as leadership, ownership, loyalty and participation (Morris, 2003). Creating leadership opportunities helps develop social skills and reinforces positive life skills. By empowering participants, the effectiveness of the activity as a deterrent against substance abuse improves dramatically. For example, the Australian Football League (AFL) invested $3 million over 3 years into junior development in Queensland. A Cape York development officer believes that the AFL Kick-Start program addressed many social problems including petrol sniffing and alcohol abuse. The area has witnessed decreased incidence of substance abuse since the inception of the program. An executive committee of 12 people, including 6 young people, operated the project.

It is suggested that via social processes and relationships involved in the participation in sport, participants are influenced by significant others (coaches, teachers, other participants) who provide appropriate role models and espouse conventional values (Cameroon, 2000). Sport provides an alternative to offending peer groups, as the emphasis is placed conventional norms and social conformity. Further, participation can reduce or eliminate association with delinquent peers – either by reducing available time or changing interests or attitudes. Sporting projects facilitate the creation of positive, trusting and supportive relationships with adults. Many young people come from troubled families and lack respect for the formal education structures where they are preached to and feel marginalized. Within the sporting environment, young people develop respect for their coaches and mentors. Coaches can then use their leadership positions to convey a positive non-use message to young people and can become positive role models for all participants.

Liverpool Football Club, one of the largest, most affluent and successful teams in world soccer, has confronted its local substance abuse problem. Activities organised by the club include football camps involving high-profile players as role models who promote quit-smoking and anti-drug themes. Evaluation of the program has revealed diminished incidence of substance abuse in program areas.

2.6 An Analysis of Current Sports Provision for Young People in Ireland

This section will examine the current status of sports provision for young people in Ireland, examining the service provided by formal education structures, statutory bodies, youth, community and various sporting organisations.

2.6.1

Formal Education

As outlined above, the societal benefits are so important that the education system cannot afford to neglect or minimise sports education.

Physical education (P.E.), as part of the formal education system, contributes directly to the acquisition of essential life skills such as self-esteem and self-respect and ‘through a diverse range of experiences providing regular, challenging physical activity, the balanced and harmonious development of the child is fostered’. (The Revised Primary Curriculum in Physical Education).

Curricular and anecdotal evidence would suggest that proper recognition is not given to P.E. within our educational structures. Recreation and sport have become marginalized in education and with this lack of status have become neglected within the curricula. P.E. must be advanced as a core subject of primary and post-primary curricula, with P.E. becoming compulsory to Leaving Certificate level and recognition must be given to the enormous contribution made by P.E. to the holistic development of our young people.

The provision for P.E. within our primary and secondary schools is systematically failing our young people. The prescribed time as per the Revised Primary Curriculum is 60 minutes per week. This is wholly insufficient. If the model of European education is taken as an example of how we should move forward, daily physical educations classes are necessary. New Zealand is another pertinent example where P.E. is given proper recognition where students receive five one-hour physical education classes per week (Graham, 2001).

Practical exigencies impinge on the implementation of this already derisory time allocation. The INTO (Irish National Teachers’ Organisation) believe that many primary teachers feel that they are inadequately trained to teach PE. It would follow therefore that the significance granted to P.E. within the Colleges of Education is not what it should be. Over the past twenty years, the amounts of time allotted to the training of P.E. within the teacher training colleges have significantly diminished. Many teachers have yet to receive in-service P.E. training and those who have believe it to be inadequate. (IPPEA, 2002)

The demands on teachers are immense. Class-size is an area of real concern. The practicalities of 35 children involved in a P.E. class means that classes are unstructured and amount to little more than crowd control. This married to the difficulties of juggling an over-loaded curriculum make adequate physical education provision an impossibility. Teacher age-profile and expertise are also factors which need to be urgently addressed (IPPEA, 2002).

The school facilities in which teachers are expected to deliver PE are wholly inadequate. Many schools have little are no PE equipment or sports halls so provision of P.E. is subject to prevailing weather conditions.

The Buntus programme, developed by the Irish Sports Council and delivered by the Local Sports Partnerships is a tentative step in the right direction. Buntus Play and Multi-Sport have been developed to support the delivery of the Physical Education Curriculum and assist teachers in introducing young people to sport and helping to develop their interest. The Sports Council have made two equipment bags available to each participating school in the Local Sport Partnership (LSP) areas. The Council has developed a training course for Buntus and has trained a panel of 50 tutors who are available to provide training for teachers at a local level. Although Buntus must be seen as a positive development, it is under-resourced and only available in LSP areas. (There are currently only 12 LSP’s in operation of a planned 36). Further co-operation is necessary between the Department of Education and Science, the Irish Sports Council, the National Governing Bodies and indeed all local sporting organisations to ensure a more integrated approach to the proficient delivery of the Physical Education curricula.

In this European Year of Education Through Sport (EYES 2004), launched recently by Minister John O’Donoghue, one cannot be but appalled at the current state of physical education within our schools. The demands placed on teachers by an over-loaded curriculum means that P.E. is not accorded priority within school life. There is an urgent need for specialist P.E teachers in primary schools and appropriate training of all teachers. Alternatively the Extension of the Bachelor of Education course to a four years degree course would provide the necessary additional time for the adequate training of graduates (IPPEA, 2002).

A key recommendation that underscores the urgency of change is that the school day be extended by one half-hour each day to allow for at least one half-hour physical education session every day. Furthermore, a spirit of co-operation must be fostered between the Sports Council, the Department of Education and Science and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to ensure high quality sport provision within our educational structures.

2.6.2

Other Statutory and Non-Statutory Provision

The Irish Sports Council was established in 1999 to plan, lead and co-ordinate the sustainable development of sport in Ireland. The Council has developed a new strategy ‘Sport for Life’ for the period 2003-2005. The overall objectives of the policy is to influence the critical need for physical education in Ireland, to increase opportunities for young people to participate in sport at local level, to build capacity within sporting organisations and to co-ordinate and consolidate initiatives previously launched. In 2002, the Council provided over €6.5 million to the GAA, FAI and the IRFU to encourage and promote greater underage participation. That figure includes almost €380,000 in respect of the Designated Areas Scheme as explained below. The council’s funding is intended to support and supplement the existing work of the Regional Development Officers of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), the Games Promotion Officers in the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the Youth Development Officers in the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and for the provision of targeted actions by each of the organisations.

The Designated Areas Scheme was set up to combat drug abuse, crime and social exclusion in neighbourhoods with social and economic disadvantage and to empower young people in these areas through sport. This fund was established to assist three National Governing Bodies of Sport help young people at risk through sport. (FAI, GAA and the IRFU). Local project officers work with clubs, schools, community, voluntary and youth groups to achieve their objectives and report to a local management committee which oversees the initiative. In 2002, the Council commissioned an evaluation of the Designated Areas Scheme. The evaluation concluded that the scheme had been successful in many respects in providing young people with an opportunity, which they might otherwise not have had, to participate regularly in organised sport (Kennedy, 2002).

The Council is also committed to fostering and supporting a network of Local Sport Partnerships (LSPs) throughout the country; all designed to co-ordinate and promote the development of sport at local level. The Council supports the work of the LSP’s by providing funding, training and national leadership to the programme. These entities are designed to co-ordinate the various interests in sport at a local level to ensure that local provision is sufficient, that efforts are co-ordinated and that resources are used effectively. There are currently 12 LSPs in operation of a planned 36. There is an urgent need for further funding so that the further 24 LSP initiatives can be established.

The LSP initiatives have made some progress in increasing the access of young people to sport. There is still, however, much work to do. The current sport structures are fragmented and lack integration, coordination and leadership. There is a need for a more integrated approach, with further co-operation and consultation between departments and the various sporting organisations, especially the GAA, IRFU and the FAI, in order to ensure the provision of adequate sporting opportunities for all our young people. The introduction of children to sport cannot be achieved without the steadfast support of the Department for Sport, the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health and Children and various agencies under their aegis, including schools, health boards, local authorities and Vocational Educational Committees.

Various sporting organisations provide vital opportunities for young people, principal among these being the GAA, the IRFU and the FAI. Current estimates conclude that in excess of one million young people are either involved or avail of services offered by sporting organisations in this country. With the assistance of Sport’s Council Finances and as a further testament to their commitment to young people the GAA is employing 10 new games promotion officers in Dublin, establishing schools of excellence in hurling and football, organising internal school competitions, developing coaching programmes for primary schools and appointing development co-ordinators at national and provincial level.

The FAI is employing new development officers for schools and youths, developing an under-age international programme and operates coaching schools each summer for thousands of 8-16 year olds.

The IRFU is employing an additional 10 youth development officers and four additional fitness advisors throughout the country, developing a schools of Ireland and tag rugby programmes, providing gear and equipment for affiliated schools and clubs and is providing further infrastructure supports.

While each of these organisations is undertaking commendable work, there is a necessity for an overall strategy, with meaningful consultation and multi-agency involvement in programme development. There is a real need to strengthen co-operation and to find common cause across organisation. The situation with regard to the use of Croke Park is a situation which is also being played out at local level. Co-operation and the sharing of facilities between organisations must improve. In France, for example, each town possesses a Community Sports Facility. This facility consists of large indoor activity hall, gymnasia, crèche, outdoor playing fields and a swimming pool to be utilised by all sporting organisations, youth clubs and schools. Strategies to ensure effective inter-agency co-operation and moves to negate the present environment of fragmentation are integral to substance abuse prevention practise. The recent successful joint application on behalf of the IRFU and the FAI for Stadium Ireland at Lansdowne Road should be seen as template of how sport in Ireland can move forward. It’s a move that should be replicated on regional and local levels.

There must be recognition at policy level that substance abuse is not solely a problem experienced in disadvantaged areas. Substance abuse exists in every sector of Irish society. There exists an assumption that economic prosperity equates to adequate sporting provision for the young in that area. This is not the case. Particular attention needs to be focused on isolated rural areas where young children are inadequately provided for in terms of facilities. Substance abuse is becoming a real problem in certain rural areas, where the young people are marginalized and sporting provision is neglected. In order to arrest this steady uphill trajectory of substance abuse in the ‘forgotten Ireland’, there must be recognition at policy level of the extent of the problem and significant resources must be channelled towards improving sports provision in these areas.

Youth work organisations promote the development of all services for all young people and safeguard their interests and concerns. The National Youth Work Development Plan 2003-2007 defines Youth Work as, “a planned programme of education designed for the purposes of aiding and enhancing the personal and social development of young people through activities such as sporting and outdoor pursuits.” Various Youth Organisations play a pivotal role in the provision of sporting opportunity for our young people. Youth Clubs offer young people a safe and trusting environment in which to express themselves and actively participate as well as fostering positive self-esteem and empowerment through their activities. Youth work in Ireland is funded through various Departments, including the Department for Education and Science, the Department for Sport and the Arts and the Department for Health, through various statutory bodies as well as through private funding. Departmental funding is disseminated regionally and locally, largely through four national youth work organisations (National Youth Federation, National Youth Council; Catholic Youth Council and Foroige). Current Government funding amounts to a derisory €1 per young person per week, according to Mary Cunningham, Director of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI).

Youth work in Ireland is characterised by a dependence on pilot programs and an absence of long-term commitment; initiatives tend to be understaffed and under-resourced, and there is an expectation that workers and the young participants will ‘make do’ with whatever is provided. The grant-in-aid nature of funding makes strategic planning virtually impossible and means that funding is not granted on the basis of proven need. Quality assurance, evaluation and monitoring are frequently seen as add-on rather than integral parts of the programme. According to Donall Geoghegan of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), although there is provision within the Youth Work Plan 2001, the sector has witnessed little or no evaluation from a government level for finances distributed. Successive governments have not invested sufficiently in our youth work sector. Funding is variable, lacks transparency, evaluation and is often too limited for significant goals to be achieved. There is an urgent need for a central funding and directional authority for the youth sector as the current situation lacks direction, leadership, effective evaluation and resources.

2.7 Conclusion

Robust theoretical and experimental evidence exists to show that sport has a significant role to play in preventing substance abuse. The evidence suggests that sports programs can facilitate personal and social development through which the propensity to abuse various substances is diminished. It is also clear that there are many effective dynamic sporting programs established in Ireland, in both community and school settings, delivered by voluntary and statutory agencies. However, many programs are characterised by a lack of long-term planning and coherence in policy-making and by chronic under-funding and under-resourcing. The absence of long term strategy and co-operation between various organisations has led to a complicated series of responses, with frequent gaps over-laps and contradictions. A multi-agency program, where government and non-government agencies work together to fund and support sport is critical to the provision of adequate sporting opportunities for our young people.

The Arts as a Deterrent

“Art doesn’t transform. It just plain forms.”

Oscar Wilde

3.1 Introduction

One of the few aspects of life which simultaneously opens our hearts, our imaginations and our capacity to understand the world around us is the arts. Arts, be they visual or performing, have enormous potential to act as social vehicles to address the underlying causes of substance abuse. The particular inherent qualities engendered in the arts such as self-confidence, self-awareness, self-control, self-discipline, empathy and cognitive development, can be very useful in intervention in troubled youth (Cameroon, 2000). The arts contribute directly to the acquisition of essential life skills and to the holistic development of the individual. When we introduce an art form to young people we are empowering them with opportunities to acquire self-confidence and belief in themselves, to freely express themselves, to communicate their ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotions to the outside world – a world, which incidentally, rarely provides them with such access (Delgado, 2000). This section will seek to show how development focused arts activities for reaching and engaging young people can act as a real alternative to substance abuse.

3.2 Benefits of Music

The power of music is tremendous. It can unlock the development of a socially insecure child, open up the world of art to the uninitiated and augment cognitive development (Music Network, 2003). Music transcends all boundaries, whether cultural, social or economic. Young people can express themselves using a universal language; the language of music. Howard Garner, a cognitive psychologist from Harvard University has carried out extensive research into the link between music and cognitive intelligence. The research concludes that music engages the entire brain and cognitive development is actively increased through music The report shows that music can enhance academic performance and those students who study music show a secure sense of their own ability to plan and work for a positive future. The acquisition of music skills has been shown to increase self-esteem, self-confidence and cognitive development, qualities which equip young people with the ability to withstand the temptation to experiment with drugs and strengthens assertiveness. Bernard Fitzwilliam, Child Psychologist from Harvard University, believes that discipline required for the study and performance of music can be transferred to other facets of life. A recent study by the University of North Texas concluded that students who study music have fewer problems with alcohol and are healthier emotionally.

3.3 Benefits of Visual Arts

The Visual arts interpret and reflect life. Through participating in visual arts young people gain valuable insights into the world around them along with knowledge and skills they can use throughout their lives. Visual arts in particular provide the opportunity for children to make a connection to the inner self. Students learn to assess their work, to reflect on it so that they can improve and reach their goals. Thus, they learn about self-evaluation and criticism and how to exercise introspection in order to discuss their deepest feelings (Delgado, 2000). Through visual arts young people can express themselves, their anger, frustration, anxiety and sadness. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, they consequently don’t need outbursts to externalise those feelings that are causing them so much pain; they don’t have to seek refuge in substance abuse or vent their anger and anxiety with delinquent behaviour.

A Canadian commission on drugs and alcohol abuse showed that, “students who participated in the visual arts reported lower lifetime levels of substance use.” (Delgado 2000). The commission concluded that the Visual Arts as a deterrent makes sense psychologically because, rather than seeing young people as problems, it emphasises their talents and provided enriching, challenging and life-enhancing activities which negate the attractiveness of substance abuse.

The evaluation of The Sparkling Seven partnership between the Irish Museum of Modern Art and St. Michael’s Parish Youth project concluded that participation in the visual arts engenders self-confidence and in some cases leads to academic improvement. The class teacher was surprised by the confident manner in which the children spoke about their work and noted significant improvements in motivation and performance in respect of schoolwork (Perry, 2000). The qualities elicited by the project will keep the children to become productive members of society rather than languishing on the sidelines, almost pre-conditioned for a life of substance abuse.

3.4 Benefits of Dance

Dance not only provides youth with an opportunity to express themselves, but also provides an art form which promotes self-discipline, self-confidence, social tolerance, creativity and group social development (Delgado, 2000).

The Juvenile Liaison Officer in Harcourt Street supports 51 after-school programmes around the state. One of the most successful of these is the Rock Challenge program at Larkin Community College, in Dublin’s inner city. The Rock Challenge is a crime and drug prevention initiative that takes the form of a performing arts competition. Initially developed in Australia and supported by police in Britain and Northern Ireland, the Rock Challenge is simple: after school, groups of teenagers choreograph and rehearse a 12-minute dance routine which they go on to perform against other schools (Holmquist, 2003). When they join the programme, students are asked to sign a pledge promising that they will stay off alcohol, drugs and cigarettes. “The Rock Challenge has transformed the lives of staff and students in our school and it has a tremendous impact on the wider community,” according to Maire O’Higgins, arts coordinator for Larkin Community College. “Dance develops artistic intelligence which is often neglected and students self-confidence and personal perception has also benefited.” The importance of dance for engaging the marginalized youth must not be underestimated. The ‘competitive dancing’ (break dancing) competitions in New York in the early 1970’s served the purpose of providing an alternative to substance abuse. Participation in dance created a sense of optimism in their own ability, promoted a more positive outlook to plan and work for a better future.

3.5 Benefits of Drama

Drama provides a forum for positive social interaction. It improves the ability to communicate and interact with others; to understand them; to have empathy for their feelings and beliefs and to interpret their behaviour (Cameroon 2000). Hartford Youth Dance in Pennsylvania US promotes drama as an intervention against substance abuse. They provide a supportive social structure providing activities that teach valuable social and personal lessons through drama, promoting self-awareness, self-esteem and self-confidence. Drama enhances teamwork skills and discipline among participants as they must work together harmoniously towards a common goal. Drama can be seen as a rehearsal for developing a wide range of social skill sets which will deter young people from substance abuse. The National Institute for Drug abuse in the US believes that through providing constructive artistic projects for our youth, such as drama, feeling of loneliness, boredom and depression can be negated and consequently incidents of drug abuse decline. Involvement in drama is one avenue by which young people can acquire the various competencies necessary to eschew the lure of substance abuse.

3.6 An Analysis of Current Arts Provision for Young People in Ireland

This section will examine the current status of arts provision for young people in Ireland, examining the service provided by formal education structures, statutory bodies, youth, community and various arts organisations.

3.6.1 Formal Education

The arts must be at the heart of education. They are fundamental to the provision of a more comprehensive and insightful education because they allow students to explore the emotional, intuitive and irrational aspects of life that science is unable to explain. However, evidence would suggest that proper recognition is not awarded to the arts within our educational structures and that arts in education is inhibited by a disjointed public policy.

A report issued by the London Institute of Cultural Education concluded that Irish Children are visually and artistically among the most under-educated in Europe (Pugh, 1999). This deficiency is most manifest in the provision of music education, particularly vocal and instrumental tuition and the visual arts. Successive curricula have attempted to reform provision for arts education in the state. However, according to the Irish National Schools Teachers’ Organisation, the situation with regard to visual arts and music still remains a source of particular concern (INTO, 1996). Worries remain over each teacher’s ability to deliver adequately over each area of an overloaded curriculum. There is a need to examine the case for specialisation within the larger schools and for employing peripatetic teachers in the smaller schools so that teachers with particular talents in the realm of the arts are given the opportunity to teach these subjects (INTO, 1996). Arts training in the colleges of Education needed to be addressed and the in-service training of teachers escalated, monitored and resourced.

A 1996 INTO report found that 10% of teachers never taught music and that a minority of teachers (15%) had brought children to an art exhibition during the course of the last year (INTO, 1996). Compare this to the situation in France where there is a commitment at state level to provide a full and balanced arts education. Arts education is seen as a core subject awarded recognition and adequate resources. Students are given a greater understanding of the visual and performing arts by frequent arranged visits to museums and theatres which give children the opportunity to observe and understand different styles of art styles and forms from an early age. The commitment to the arts is also particularly striking in Norway, where parliament recently passed legislation to ensure local provision of publicly supported Kulturkole throughout the country. (Music Network 2003) As a result there are now 412 such schools with significant municipal funding throughout Norway, all of which offer instrumental and vocal music education services alongside educational opportunities in other art forms, including drama and visual arts.

The continued lack of co-operation between the Arts Council and the Department of Education and Science has led to a perpetuation of this situation. The Arts Council needs to play a more active role in promoting curricular reform. The Arts Council, in line with arts policy and the National Youth Arts Programme 2003-2006 must disseminate best-practice models of arts in schools and develop and campaign for proposals to achieve better arts in education. It must, as promised, develop materials and mechanisms to promote best practise standards for visual arts in education. An integrated and co-ordinated approach, sharing expertise and resources is the only way to move arts education forward in this country. High quality collaboration programmes between the formal and non-formal sectors must be encouraged to raise the standards of arts education and to influence curriculum development and delivery.

Previous projects delivered by the Arts Council funded organisations in school settings have tended to be under-staffed and under-resourced. Often merely pilot projects lack real long-term commitment. The wider use of periphery activities in arts education such as artist-in-residence schemes, partnerships with arts organisation and other extra-curricular activities must be implemented to complement and assist teachers. The Arts Council should consult and communicate regularly with other statutory educational bodies such as the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to ensure adequate educational provision for the arts. The nature of this curriculum-support service should include in-service training and workshops for teachers. The involvement of the Arts Council will ensure that there is a professional development dimension in support of arts teaching in primary and second-level schools. There must be recognition that arts enrich the curriculum and play a pivotal role in the holistic development of our young people.

3.6.2 Other Statutory and Non-Statutory Provision

The Youth Work area has seen a proliferation of arts based initiatives, such as drama projects, music and visual arts programs over recent years. Youth clubs offer young people a safe and trusting environment where they can express themselves artistically and actively communicate. The Youth sector seeks to understand, develop and advocate the artistic needs of young people. The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) supported by the Arts Council and the Department of Education and Science (Youth Affairs), has developed the National Youth Arts Program 2003-2006 to establish a systematic integrated approach to the arts, to develop and advance youth arts in Ireland and to encourage young people into meaningful and constructive activities to help them realise their full potential (NYCI, 2003). NYCI, through the work of the National Youth Arts Program, promotes opportunities for young people to engage in participatory arts experiences across all settings.

The non-formal youth sector provides an ideal setting in which young people can engage more profoundly in arts activities. It allows a great richness and integrity of experience that is complementary to the formal education provision. There are some 750,000 young people either involved in or who avail of services offered by youth organisations in Ireland, making it a very broad constituency base (NYCI, 2003). A myriad of organisations provide arts programs to young people. Examples include youth theatres, youth dance ensembles and youth orchestras. It must be stressed, however, that despite much growth having taken place, activity, in terms of youth organisations and services working in the arts, is still ad hoc and tends to be worker led rather than policy led.

There exists a dearth in overt and explicit policy in respect of youth arts. The absence of long-term strategies and corresponding funding, alongside the reliance on short-term pilot projects, creates an insecure, sometimes defensive attitude amongst service providers. Integration, co-ordination and co-operation between statutory and non-statutory bodies is crucial to address the ad hoc and disparate nature of current provision. There is a need for a structured, adequately resourced and continuous approach to the development of youth arts policy and practise (NYCI, 2003).

The National Youth Arts Programme must be appropriately resourced by the Arts Council and the Department of Education and Science (Youth Affairs) to develop its capacity to meet the needs of youth organisations in terms of supporting them to develop the arts in their organisations. Since the consultation phase of the strategic planning process there has been substantial changes in funding to the Arts council by government and a cut in real terms to the Department of Education and Science. Implementation of this plan is contingent on an increase in resources to the National Youth Arts Program (NYCI, 2003). The situation is further exasperated by the grant-in-aid nature of funding which creates a real obstacle to strategic planning and accurate evaluation of practices.

With the Department of Education and Science and the National Youth Council of Ireland, the Arts Council must extend and enhance the arts experiences of young people in the formal and informal education sectors. The Arts Council, as it was structured, was incapable of achieving this. More than sixty organisations provide information, advice and other services to artists. Limited resources mean that their efforts are dissipated, fragmented and often duplicated. Although much good practise exists, the previous structure of the arts council did not faciliate the development of a coherent policy or a clear purpose. Certainly the annual nature of funding from Government and the unwieldy size of the Arts Council contributed to the difficulties faced by the Council. The new Arts Act 2003 defines a clearer role for the Arts Council and provides for streamlining of the organisation. The Director has been reconfiguring and refocusing the Arts Council to create a more strategic organisation.

It will take time for these changes to take effect. It would be unfair to be overly critical of an organisation in transition. Recent funding cut backs have not helped the organisation adapt to change. The fact that it is under-resourced is compounded by the nature of funding. The whole system of grant in aid is poorly designed, acts as a disincentive to economical spending, lacks proper evaluation structures and is a barrier to strategic planning. The youth arts sector needs a pragmatic model of cost-effective provision to address these gaps. The creation of a national system of Local Arts Partnerships, a mechanism akin to that currently employed by the Sports Council in developing its Local Sports Partnership initiative, would address these deficiencies. The Local Arts Partnerships (LAPs) should be publicly supported, socially inclusive, community focused, of high quality and should complement and augment the arts curricula. The Arts Council will require significant restructuring in order to provide national educational consistency, provide quality assurance and control the flow of central funding. The Arts council should have a regulatory role over the Local Arts Partnerships (LAPs) The LAP’s should evolve on a county by county basis and will effectively co-ordinate the local delivery of arts activities. The Arts Council should invite tenders from prospective Local Arts Partnerships whose funding will be dependent on the furnishing of strategic plans and whose performance is monitored and evaluated on an on-going basis. The LAP’s structure would ensure funding transparency and the provision of a broad range of artistic activities. Each LAP will act as local support centres for local schools and arts organisations ensuring that the arts are positioned at both the heart of education and at the heart of the community.

3.7 Conclusion

The arts contribute directly to the acquisition of essential life skills and to the holistic development of the individual. The arts emphasise young people’s talents and provide enriching, challenging and life-enhancing activities. Children whose hearts and minds are nourished and challenged in wholesome ways-such as art, dance and music-are much less likely to succumb to the lure of substance abuse. However due recognition is not awarded to the arts within our formal and informal educational structures and this has had a profound effect on how youth arts in this country has been conceptualised. The provision of youth arts in this country is characterised by a dependence on pilot programmes, an absence of long-term commitment and of resources and poor inter-agency co-operation. Young people and the arts need to be placed centre stage. Integration and co-ordination between service providers is crucial if we are to address the ad hoc and disparate nature of current provision. The approach must facilitate integration between the formal and non-formal sectors, the aesthetic and pedagogical and between the array of funding and development agencies with a remit in youth arts to ensure a cohesive, holistic response to the problem of substance abuse in our communities.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Robust theoretical and empirical evidence exists to show that sport and the arts have a significant role to play in deterring young people from substance abuse. The evidence suggests that arts and sports programs can facilitate the holistic development of the individual through which the propensity to abuse various substances is diminished. Sport and the arts constitute an essential component of a broader, child-centred, multi-tiered strategy for substance abuse prevention in this country.

While it is clear that there are many effective and dynamic arts and sporting programs established in Ireland, in both community and school settings, delivered by voluntary and statutory agencies, these must be delivered in the context of an overall strategy, with meaningful consultation and multi-agency involvement in programme development. Present provision is characterised by its dependence on pilot schemes and an absence of long-term commitment; is ad hoc in nature and tends to be under-sourced and under-staffed. An effective substance abuse prevention strategy is one in which an integrated package of best practice is developed and delivered consistently over time. A multi-agency program, where government and agencies work together to fund and support sport and the arts is critical to the provision of adequate opportunities for our young people from birth to adulthood.

Recommendations:

Greater recognition must be attributed at policy-level to the role played by the arts and sport to the personal and social development of the individual through which the propensity to abuse various substances is diminished and commensurate public funding must be provided for their adequate provision.

•The arts and physical education must be advanced as core components of an integrated and balanced curriculum. There must be recognition that the arts and physical education enrich the curriculum and play a pivotal role in the holistic development of our young people from birth.




•The wider use of periphery activities in arts education such as artist-in-residence schemes, partnerships with arts organisation and other extra-curricular activities must be implemented to complement and assist teachers. High quality collaboration programmes between the formal and non-formal sectors raise the standards of arts education.




•This report recommends the creation of a national system of Local Arts Partnerships (LAPs), a mechanism akin to that currently employed by the Sports Council in developing its Local Sports Partnership imitative. The LAPs will be publicly supported, socially inclusive, community focused, of high quality and will complement and augment the arts curriculum. The LAPs will evolve on a county by county basis and will effectively co-ordinate the local delivery of arts activities. The Arts Council will invite tenders from prospective Local Arts Partnerships whose funding will be dependent on the furnishing of strategic plans and whose performance is monitored and evaluated on an on-going basis.




•The Arts Council, in line with arts policy must disseminate best-practice models of arts in schools and develop and campaign for proposals to achieve better arts in education. The Arts Council should consult and communicate regularly with other statutory educational bodies such as the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to ensure adequate educational provision for the arts.




•There is a need to examine the case for specialisation within the larger schools and for employing peripatetic teachers in the smaller schools so that teachers with particular talents in the realm of the arts and physical education are given the opportunity to teach these subjects. Physical education and arts training in the Colleges of Education need to be addressed as well as the in-service training of teachers monitored and resourced.




•Further co-operation is necessary between the Department of Education and Science, the Irish Sports Council, the National Governing Bodies and indeed all local sporting organisations to ensure a more integrated approach to the proficient delivery of the Physical Education curricula. A key recommendation that underscores the urgency of change is that the school day be extended by one half-hour each day to allow for at least one half-hour physical education session every day and the development of the concept of integrating post school activities with the standard curriculum.




•Expansion and adequate resourcing of the Local Sports Partnerships within the existing Sport Council structure. There is an urgent need for funding and resources so that a further 24 LSP initiatives can be established.




•The Sports Council, through the Local Sport Partnerships, must play a more active role in co-ordinating and integrating the services of various sporting organisations, in order to optimise resources and the usage of various local sport facilities. LSPs must be refocused to lead and unify the presently fragmented local sports sector.




•The extension of the Buntus scheme to all primary schools




•The establishment of a Youth Affairs Ministry and Department with multi-annual budgeting and appropriate evaluation and monitoring of service provision with a view to sustaining high quality activities, strategically planned with the goal of long term growth in arts, sport and youth affairs.




•Leverage the willingness of the private sector to contribute to sport and the arts by providing seed funding and starter grants to innovative sport and art-based programs.




•The allocation of monies from the Dormant Accounts Fund and monies collected by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) would provide the initial funding in order to kick start the aims and ambitions of this report.




•Alcohol and its abuse to be to be included in the National Drugs Strategy.

During the course of researching this report the rapporteurs encountered a number of issues outside its scope which present considerable obstacles to the provision of arts and sport to our young people. Principal among these was the issue of insurance. The litigious nature of Irish society coupled with the high cost of insurance is restricting access for many young people to various sporting and arts facilities. This is an area that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

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Appendix I

LIST OF MEMBERS

Deputies:

James Breen (Ind)

Michael Collins (Ind)

Jimmy Deenihan (FG)

Damien English (FG)

Jim Glennon (FF) {Vice-Chairman}

Cecilia Keaveney (FF) {Chairman}

Peter Kelly (FF)

Fiona O’Malley (PD)

Brian O’Shea (Lab)

Jack Wall (Lab)

G.V. Wright (FF)

Senators:

Brendan Daly (FF)

Joe McHugh (FG)

Labhrás Ó Murchú (FF)

Joe O’Toole (Ind)

John Paul Phelan (FG)

Kieran Phelan (FF)

Appendix II

Orders of Reference

Dáil Éireann on 16 October 2002 ordered:

1. 1. That a Select Committee, which shall be called the Select Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, consisting of 11 members of Dáil Éireann (of whom 4 shall constitute a quorum), be appointed to consider -
      
      1. such Bills the statute law in respect of which is dealt with by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs;
      2. such Estimates for Public Services within the aegis of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs; and
      3. such proposals contained in any motion, including any motion within the meaning of Standing Order 157 concerning the approval by the Dáil of international agreements involving a charge on public funds,as shall be referred to it by Dáil Éireann from time to time.
   2. For the purpose of its consideration of Bills and proposals under paragraphs (1)(a)(i) and (iii), the Select Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 81(1), (2) and (3).
   3. For the avoidance of doubt, by virtue of his or her ex officio membership of the Select Committee in accordance with Standing Order 90(1), the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (or a Minister or Minister of State nominated in his or her stead) shall be entitled to vote.
2. 1. The Select Committee shall be joined with a Select Committee to be appointed by Seanad Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to consider -
      
      1. such public affairs administered by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs as it may select, including, in respect of Government policy, bodies under the aegis of those Departments;
      2. such matters of policy for which the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs are officially responsible as it may select;
      3. such related policy issues as it may select concerning bodies which are partly or wholly funded by the State or which are established or appointed by Members of the Government or by the Oireachtas;
      4. such Statutory Instruments made by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas as it may select;
      5. such proposals for EU legislation and related policy issues as may be referred to it from time to time, in accordance with Standing Order 81(4);
      6. the strategy statement laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs pursuant to section 5(2) of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, and the Joint Committee shall be so authorised for the purposes of section 10 of that Act;
      7. such annual reports or annual reports and accounts, required by law and laid before either or both Houses of the Oireachtas, of bodies specified in paragraphs 2(a)(i) and (iii), and the overall operational results, statements of strategy and corporate plans of these bodies, as it may select;
         Provided that the Joint Committee shall not, at any time, consider any matter relating to such a body which is, which has been, or which is, at that time, proposed to be considered by the Committee of Public Accounts pursuant to the Orders of Reference of that Committee and/or the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993;
         Provided further that the Joint Committee shall refrain from inquiring into in public session, or publishing confidential information regarding, any such matter if so requested either by the body or by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs; and
      8. such other matters as may be jointly referred to it from time to time by both Houses of the Oireachtas,and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.
   2. The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be five, of whom at least one shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and one a member of Seanad Éireann.
   3. The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 81(1) to (9) inclusive.
3. The Chairman of the Joint Committee, who shall be a member of Dáil Éireann, shall also be Chairman of the Select Committee.”.

Seanad Éireann on 17 October 2002 (^*23 October 2002) ordered:

1. 1. That a Select Committee consisting of 6 members^* of Seanad Éireann shall be appointed to be joined with a Select Committee of Dáil Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to consider-
      
      1. such public affairs administered by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs as it may select, including, in respect of Government policy, bodies under the aegis of those Departments;
      2. such matters of policy for which the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs are officially responsible as it may select;
      3. such related policy issues as it may select concerning bodies which are partly or wholly funded by the State or which are established or appointed by Members of the Government or by the Oireachtas;
      4. such Statutory Instruments made by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and laid before Houses of the Oireachtas as it may select;
      5. such proposals for EU legislation and related policy issues as may be referred to it from time to time, in accordance with Standing Order 65(4);
      6. the strategy statement laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs pursuant to section 5(2) of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, and the Joint Committee shall be so authorised for the purposes of section 10 of that Act;
      7. such annual reports or annual reports and accounts, required by law and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas, of bodies specified in paragraphs 1(a)(i) and (iii), and the overall operational results, statements of strategy and corporate plans of these bodies, as it may select;
         Provided that the Joint Committee shall not, at any time, consider any matter relating to such a body which is, which has been, or which is, at that time, proposed to be considered by the Committee of Public Accounts pursuant to the Orders of Reference of that Committee and/or the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993;
         Provided further that the Joint Committee shall refrain from inquiring into in public session, or publishing confidential information regarding, any such matter if so requested either by the body concerned or by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism or the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs;
         and
      8. such other matters as may be jointly referred to it from time to time by both Houses of the Oireachtas, and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.
   2. The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be five, of whom at least one shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and one a member of Seanad Éireann.
   3. The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 65(1) to (9) inclusive.
2. The Chairman of the Joint Committee shall be a member of Dáil Éireann.

^***by the substitution of ‘6 members’ for ‘4 members’.

^*by the substitution of ‘6 members’ for ‘4 members’.