Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I welcome the fact that money is being spent to develop the profile of sport. However, there are problems. In a survey I conducted of 1,400 primary schools, only 23% had sports halls. I appealed to the Minister a few weeks ago to give priority to any applications he receives from schools and local sports clubs.

This alone will not resolve the problem. There must be a national commitment to installing sports halls in schools. There is a major obesity problem with 300,000 young people identified as obese or overweight, a figure increasing by 10,000 annually.

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