James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is positive to hear that the Department is aware of the positive initiatives that could be enabled by working on this. The statistics do not tell a lie. Approximately a quarter of a million people come to Ireland from all over the world to play golf on our courses. That represents a huge opportunity to allow our young people to get skilled up in this area from an educational perspective. For that to be recognised as part of the curriculum would be very positive. There are more than 400 golf clubs in Ireland. In 2027, the Ryder Cup will be here. We have had such significant success for a country with such a small population in this sport. There are great merits from cultural, sporting and economic perspectives to providing young people with those skills, allowing them to take their sport seriously from an educational perspective and for that to be recognised from a curriculum perspective. From my perspective, it would be very positive.

I ask for that to be looked at by the Department.

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