Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter.

I refer to the Abbey School in Tipperary town, an excellent school with a great history. It is a great sporting school which has won many cups throughout its long history and contributed a great deal to the well-being of many pupils in the entire Tipperary area.

The school applied for funding for a physical education hall in 1989. Nineteen years later it is still waiting for that funding. I would like clarification on the band rating, which I understand was changed. In May 2007 the school had a band 4 rating but I understand in April of that year it had a band 2 rating. I would like clarification on that.

I welcome the recent announcement of the many school projects throughout the country, but there was no mention of any funding for PE halls. In 2001 the then Minister for Education and Science told us that the Department was preparing PE hall templates that would standardise the construction of PE halls at second level, that those templates were being piloted in four schools initially and that it was anticipated that the templates would be available for generic use later in the year. In May 2005, the current Minister stated that those designs will speed up the delivery of PE halls and significantly reduce design costs.

It emerged less than 12 months ago that Irish schools are ranked close to the bottom of a European Union league table for the provision of physical education classes. Senior cycle students often go without PE classes. Some schools must split PE classes, which is largely a waste of time. As we all are aware, the cost of that neglect on our health system is huge. The level of obesity in Ireland has doubled in the past decade. One in eight Irish people has been identified as being obese.

PE halls are needed throughout the country. My aim in raising this matter is to establish the current position regarding the Abbey School in Tipperary town. I hope the Minister of State will have good news.

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