Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The playground in question is in an area where very few people have front or back gardens. These are old terraced council houses. It is an area with a DEIS school and is a pocket of disadvantage in Dún Laoghaire. Many of the children who go there, from the ages of three and four up to 13, are children who would frankly not go to the other open playgrounds. There are a number of children with special needs. This is a community amenity and facility which caters for children with special needs in an area of disadvantage. It is not unique to have such a thing. I talked to Barnardos, for example, which runs such a facility in Waterford city. This is a good thing that works and is a glue for the community. It is very good for children. We often talk about early intervention and this is a form of it. The people who are there are trained and have Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, qualifications.

To remove the supervision would be retrograde and many of the children who go there will not return to it if there is no supervision.

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