Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I find the Minister's response disappointing against the background of a strong military tradition of involvement in the delivery and shaping of physical education since the foundation of the State. I do not think this involvement can be disputed. There are also excellent models of best practice from other countries of supporting physical education and promoting physical activity and fitness in schools and the wider community. If everything is as good as the Minister outlined, having conferred with his colleague the Minister for Education and Science, why do we have rising obesity levels in children, inadequate physical activity levels among children and gaps in the provision of physical education in schools?

As was suggested to us by Mr. Michael McDonough, a retired Army captain, at a committee meeting, will the Minister consider having a small number of pilot projects to examine whether something can be moved forward? Another issue which arose at the meeting was that the Reserve Defence Force does not attract the number of recruits that we would like. This may be an area in which the Reserve Defence Force could get involved and attract more people. I was very impressed with the presentation made at the committee meeting last week. The submissions made deserve more examination and scrutiny and a positive approach rather than being dismissed out of hand in the way the Minister has done.

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