Ms Maeve McCafferty:

I thank Deputy Mitchell for her questions. To come back to the point about weighing children in primary school, we are already hearing increasing evidence from our teachers about anxiety in very young children and the impact of self-esteem issues and mental health in general, including test anxiety. That is almost a physical test for children so we would have grave concerns about that. We also believe it would be outside the professional remit of the role of the teacher. It is becoming a case of off-loading the work of other professionals on to teachers, which is happening more frequently. We have a good deal of concern about the damage that practice might have on the unique relationship between a teacher and their pupils.

Mention was made of girls resisting the high impact sports in PE. We are lucky in Ireland that we have a broad and holistic curriculum.

That includes the physical education, PE, curriculum where there is much variety such as aquatics, athletics and dance movement - it is not just games. In saying that, the NCCA is reviewing the primary school curriculum. Our current curriculum was developed in 1999, making it one of the oldest curriculums in Ireland. The INTO welcomes a review of the PE curriculum and looking at more ways for it to appeal to girls.

Pupils absenting themselves from PE and from sport was also mentioned. That is a challenge and I imagine even more so in post primary. The INTO respects that parents have the right to withdraw their child from any aspect of the curriculum. It is not something we encourage as teachers for many reasons. It creates significant logistical challenges for schools at a local level when parents withdraw their children. Who will supervise that child when he or she does not partake in PE?

On facilities and infrastructure, and limitations on recreational grounds in school, we see that happening more and more and particularly in city schools. Recreational spaces are becoming ever more limited. It is not a widespread practice but we have heard anecdotal evidence of no running policies in school yards. We are operating, unfortunately, in a culture of litigation and boards of management are very exposed as a consequence. Nobody agrees with it. The Department of Education and Skills may need to look at something like a minimal recreational space with every school. This comes back to property prices as well. Schools are selling their recreational spaces for funding, which is regrettable.