Ms Mary O'Connor:

The Senator spoke about leaving certificate reform but at that stage it is too late. Girls' perceptions and interest in sport and physical activity starts at the beginning of primary school or even Montessori. Physical literacy must be achieved or started there. As girls get older and during teenage years they become very aware of themselves going through a very key transition in their lives. They become very self-conscious of body image and so on. There physical literacy and ability to perform certain skills and be physically active is important. We need girls to participate in sport not just on a competitive or talent level but with regard to holistic enjoyment or fun. That evidence came from the report that Ms Stapleton led on.

As we are all aware, there are 17 sustainable development goals and the fifth is about achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. I would love to see increased awareness around those sustainable development goals for teenage girls because they are the next generation. There is an opportunity and I have often said sport, physical activity and the sustainable development goals can be a winning formula. I know there is ongoing work from Sport Ireland's perspective under the national sports policy action plan in aligning the sustainable development goals to sport. I welcome the outcome of that to see where we can lead and what we can do.

In short, this must start way before girls get to teenage years. It must start when they are four, five, six and seven. They need to get physical literacy right.