Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

According to research published by the Federation of Irish Sport, for every €100 invested in sport by the Government, the Exchequer receives up to €195 back through taxes on sports-supported expenditure and incomes. We also know that half of the money invested by the State in the arts later comes back to the Exchequer. This proposal is based on the Icelandic experience of a leisure card. We propose a three-year pilot scheme where every child in junior and senior infants would get €130 worth of credit to use on extracurricular sporting and-or cultural activities as they choose. We then expand the scheme over the remaining primary school classes on a phased basis and, over a five-year period, the scheme would be rolled out to all children in primary and secondary school.

As I said, a similar scheme was introduced in Iceland in 2007 as a response to the crisis among its youth around alcohol, tobacco, drug use, mental health issues and social isolation. The changes in the experiences of children have been transformative. As a long-term measure, the benefits far outweigh the initial costs and, as I said, the research shows that those costs can be recouped by the State.

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