Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct, in that some schools have embraced this and are open until 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock at night. There is a huge amount of PE and other activity during the day in those schools, and they open their doors for sporting organisations to use their facilities in the evening. Other schools do not have the facilities and are closed when the school day finishes. The Department of Education is on our sports leadership group. We are trying to encourage that Department to communicate to schools that we really need to embrace that community partnership. There is an opportunity, through the sports capital programme, for schools to apply with a sporting organisation or club such that if there is an all-weather pitch, they can build a pitch in partnership with a club for use by children during the day and the club has the benefit of the pitch after school. That maximises the overall benefit of the capital investment the State makes where education and sport are combined, but we have more to do on that. I think the Deputy will see some references to that in the youth leadership report, which we will publish shortly, on what young people have said about facilities and what is available to-----

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