With issues like the health services and stamp duty dominating the pre-election agenda, it is unlikely that cultural matters will play any significant part in either national debate or in the promises made to win votes.
The National Economic and Social Forum's report on social inclusion and the arts is therefore a timely reminder that it is "fundamental to democratic society that everyone has an equal right to participate in the nation's artistic and cultural life".
Through the recent increases in expenditure, and its commitment to future investment, the Government has clearly shown a positive attitude to arts infrastructure as well as support for artists.
What the NESF report sets out to examine is whether it is society in general - or privileged sections of it - that benefit from this investment. Its conclusions - unsurprisingly - show that the arts are not socially inclusive, but remain, on the whole, the preserve of more advantaged groups and those with higher education.
Lack of inclusion of the wider community in cultural experience and participation is not unique to Irish society. The barriers are familiar: lack of engagement, financial constraints, the perception that many art forms are for an elite, and an absence of nurturing during early educational development. It is this final obstacle that warrants special and urgent attention.
While the increases in exchequer support for the arts have been welcome, the report points to the absence of any clear policy to achieve inclusion. On the ground there have been a number of very positive developments. Probably the most important, and dynamic, has been the involvement of local authorities in bringing the arts closer to the public. The establishment of county arts officers has been vital to the success of this development.
The outreach programmes run by the national cultural institutions have opened the doors of theatres, museums and galleries to many who would not, in the normal course, have dared to enter through them.
But it is at the level of early education - particularly in disadvantaged schools - that urgent action is required as follow-up to this report. The NESF report is nowhere clearer than when it states that "policy in relation to arts education for young people can reap far-reaching and lasting societal benefits and as such, this should be central to all arts policy".