Issue displaying QuickTabs programmatically from a custom module

Hi,

I'm having trouble displaying QuickTabs in a custom module that I'm writing. I've started with the following simple code:

$tabs['first'] = array(
  'title' => t('Conservation Status'),
  'type' => 'freetext',
  'text' => 'This tab is about the conservation status of a building.',
);
$tabs['second'] = array(
  'title' => t('Building Type'),
  'type' => 'freetext',
  'text' => 'This tab is about the building type.',
);

$quicktabs['qtid'] = 'cbatabs';
$quicktabs['tabs'] = $tabs;
$quicktabs['style'] = 'Sky';
$quicktabs['ajax'] = FALSE;
$output .= theme('quicktabs', $quicktabs);

The rest of the code in the module displays fine, but the QuickTabs do not appear. On going to Drupal's recent log messages report, the error "Theme key "quicktabs" not found." is logged.

I can create a standard set of quicktabs using the user interface and placing a block - these display fine. However, I'm noticing that the JS and CSS files present when creating tabs this way are not present when creating quicktabs programmatically via my module... which I guess is the root of my problem!

I've searched thoroughly through the issues list, but couldn't find anything that might help. Is there a way of rendering quicktabs via custom modules, or do I need to use blocks, etc? It'd be great if there was a way, since the data I wish to display is draw from a custom database that constantly updating.

Thanks!