Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter which no doubt will be of interest to him, being a fellow Kerryman.

Play is essential for the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of our children. We have an obesity epidemic in this country. Due to the lack of proper research we do not have accurate statistics on the precise numbers and their area distribution. However, according to the report of the obesity forum at least one in eight children is obese.

Kerry County Council, through its community cultural and tourism SPC, developed a policy document entitled Ag Spraoi. This policy document looked at developing play in Kerry and set out eight steps to developing a public playground area for the children and young people in our communities.

Since the policy was adopted by members of Kerry County Council in February 2004, the community and enterprise department has actively worked with communities to establish state-of-the-art playgrounds in the county. In each case where playgrounds have been established, such as the state-of-the art facilities in Fenit, Ballybunion, Waterville and Cahirciveen, to name but a few, a local committee was established, a site identified, advice and assistance was provided through the play appraisal team of Kerry County Council and financial assistance provided by the council through a combination of disbursal of the annual Government grant, supplemented by recreational and amenity development levies.

For the past three years a grant of €120,000 has been received on an annual basis and has been disbursed as appropriate in light of the stage of development of playgrounds throughout the county. This funding has been absolutely vital to the establishment of playgrounds. Last year €20,000 of the fund was spent on the completion of the Ballyheigue playground and €100,000 was allocated to Fenit. This was opened last April by the Minister, Deputy Roche, who promised on that occasion to open similar playgrounds around the country. He did not mention that he had suspended the grants scheme at that time. I understand he knew that the grants scheme was suspended then but he did not reveal that to the people present.

Kerry County Council has recently been notified by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that it is not in a position to justify the initiation of another year's grant scheme. The loss of the playground grant will have serious implications for the playground programme in Kerry, most particularly in the current year. Kerry County Council's 2007 playground development programme is dependent on receiving €120,000 at least, similar to that for other years. A programme had been set out for spending in this regard which would be supplemented by development levies. The withdrawal of these funds will have immediate effect on playgrounds at various stages of development in areas such as Sneem, Rossbeigh, Kenmare, Valentia Island, Ardfert and in my own village of Lixnaw. Kerry County Council would have required funding of approximately €200,000 from the Department to complete these projects. Given that this funding will not be provided, the whole programme will probably have to be suspended.

The national development plan provided a clear commitment for a funding scheme through central Government for the development of playgrounds throughout the country. It is clear this commitment has been reneged on. Initially the grants scheme was provided as a two-year scheme to kick-start the national play policy, ready steady play, but it is clear that it may not be continued. Many local authorities, apart from Kerry, will have to provide playgrounds from their own resources without any recourse to the grants scheme which was in place.

The Minister of State will probably say that a number of local authorities did not use up their grant. It is unfair that a county like Kerry with a very proactive scheme, which was availed of by locals and tourists alike, should be penalised. I appeal to the Minister of State to go back to the Minister, Deputy Gormley, to ensure he restores this grant scheme. I recall the time when his colleague slated the then Minister, Deputy John O'Donoghue, for not providing enough funding for sport facilities. In fact he referred to him as a pimp because young people had to go out bagging in supermarkets to get funding for sport facilities. Now the Minister, Deputy Gormley, is reneging on this grant for a vital piece of infrastructure. I appeal to the Minister of State to do something about it.

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