The special committee on arts and education issues met 12 times for day-long discussions in the period between September 2006 and May 2007.

A report on its findings was prepared by the committee for its deadline on May 1st 2007, and submitted to The Arts Council. The report was then sent to the Department of Education and the Department of Arts in July 2007. However, details of the findings are under embargo until the report is published, and neither the Arts Council nor the departments involved can confirm when this will happen.

Despite having answered questions put to him in the Dáil on behalf of opposition spokeswoman on the arts Olivia Mitchell in October, in late December Minister for Arts Séamus Brennan stated that he had only received the report "in the last few weeks" and had yet to "get to it". However, he insisted that "[Mary Hanafin and I] have had chats about it and have agreed that while we mightn't know the details of the report yet, we can certainly commit to the spirit of it: that every school in the country is given exposure to and a way of appreciating the arts."

Brennan had no details as to how that exposure would take shape, but mentioned putting "sculpture and paintings into the grounds of schools" as one way, although he also expressed an interest in making sure "that we have teacher training in place so that [interest in the arts] doesn't die with the physical works".

On January 27th this year, the Arts Council's press and communications officer said the report was still "undergoing detailed discussion between the Arts Council, the Department of Education and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. As yet, I still do not have a timeframe for when it will be published." While Derek West, who sat on the committee with nine other members of the arts and education community, is unable to comment on the findings of the report, he is keen that his frustration at the "stonewalling" of the report by the departments should be made clear, in the hope that this will improve the chances of the report surfacing.

"My frustration is that the report has just been stuck. It has reached limbo," says West. "When Séamus Brennan answered questions in the Dáil back in October, he said that certain queries had arisen about the draft. Nobody has contacted me [since May 2007] to deal with any queries. There has been no activity. The Minister also said that there were Exchequer ramifications, which would implicate the Department of Finance. But we've had the Budget and there was no overt reference to the arts and education, so it's unlikely [that our findings will see the light in 2008]. Our job was to advise the Arts Council on how it could align its policy with the Department of Education, and that partnership between the Arts Council and the two Government departments was crucial. We have delivered our report to the Arts Council, but ultimately it's the Ministers who hold the purse-strings and power."