Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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It was officially announced this week that we have a serious problem with obesity. I wish to raise a matter which could be a core tenet of any solution to this problem. In the past eight years, this Government has delivered sporting facilities all over the country and nobody can deny the huge advances that have been made in almost every parish. However, we are competing with a very sedentary lifestyle and the primacy of television, video, DVD, computer, Game Boy and so on. Toddlers know how to insert a video into a player and how to turn on the television with a remote control device. Children observe the behaviour of others and turning on the television or video recorder becomes normal for them. Indeed, we are often amused when very young children can perform such tasks.

We must understand that babies are aware of all that is going on around them. They understand words before they can speak, they attempt to walk before they have developed the physical capacity to do so. They also develop concepts of what is right and acceptable or what is wrong and unacceptable. By the time children reach five years of age, most of their character is formed by what they have observed around them since birth. If one observes young girls, practically from the moment they can walk, they try to put on their mothers' make-up and walk in her high heeled shoes. This underscores the fact that what happens in their environment as an infant will impinge on their attitudes to certain activities. It is almost too late, at five years of age, to introduce children to arts or physical activity like sport if they have not encountered this in those they have been observing up to that point.

I wish to see interdepartmental interaction between the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that will ensure that there are play areas for our young people from the earliest age, not just for teenagers. I am aware that plans are afoot to develop skateboard parks for the teenage cohort.

We do not need to look to other countries for examples of best practice — they exist here. We had a brief scheme that delivered to some children and I congratulate the Minister for that. However, the reality in County Donegal is that there are over 30 communities that wish to be served by a playground facility. The local authority is willing to drive the issue at ground level, but there is a lack of funding.

We must accept the fact that children must get involved in physical activity from the earliest possible age. Parents must be encouraged to play with their children, as was the situation with the 'sugradh le chéile' idea that was once promoted. The facilities must be provided to enable this to happen. Wherever one sees age-graded playgrounds, one sees activity, fun and enjoyment. We should aspire to provide facilities that would allow five to ten year olds to bring along bicycles and cycle around roundabouts, learn signalling to stop and go and so forth. Such facilities are available in many parts of the UK and in Spain. However, age-graded playgrounds are ideal for children under five.

Currently, the provision of playgrounds for young people seems to be falling between Departments and is thus not getting the priority it deserves. I ask the Minister to examine the issue, to ensure that initial cross-departmental action begins, to make an individual responsible for the provision of play facilities and to talk to the local authorities, which are very enthusiastic about this area.

Play facilities are one of the solutions to the obesity problem and much money will be spent on solving that particular problem. However, it does not require much money to put a basic play infrastructure in place that will encourage parents and extended families to play with children.

If young people see physical activity as a normal part of the life of those around them, their sense of play will expand into an acceptance of sports at a later age. This will offer a counter balance to the time that will be spent at a school desk or in front of a screen. We must ensure that the aspiration to achieve points in exams is not the main pursuit of young people. We must aim for balance in life. This is a goal worth pursuing and the funding involved would be money well spent in problem prevention. Providing children with musical stools to play on should be our objective and I do not want to see the issue of play facilities fall between departmental stools any longer.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Keaveney for raising this matter, which is very close to my heart. The funding of playground facilities does not fall between departmental stools, but falls very firmly on the stool of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche. The fact that Deputy Keaveney raised this matter allows me to outline to this House details of what has been done in this area, which is not inconsiderable, although I agree with the Deputy that more can be done.

I launched Ready, Steady, Play: A National Play Policy in March of last year, a policy for the under 12s which was the first of its kind in Europe. One of the objectives identified in the policy was to maximise the provision of public play opportunities for children. It identified how these could be maximised, not only through financial incentives, but through progressive planning on the part of local authorities.

I have been making every effort to identify funding for playgrounds, together with my colleagues in Government, including the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I am delighted to say I have had considerable success in this regard and a total of €7.9 million funding was provided in 2004 through various schemes since the launch of the policy to increase the level of access to play facilities. However, considerable sums were made available in RAPID areas and pilot projects were sanctioned in each county and the rolling out of this programme has increased the level of demand. Many other authorities and communities are seeking to establish more play facilities. One of the reasons I insisted on a rapid roll out of the original pilot schemes was to create a higher level of demand and increase the level of awareness. As Deputy Keaveney pointed out, a small amount of money in this area can go a long way. Of the total sum of €7.9 million, €7.3 million was spent directly on providing playgrounds in 2004.

In recognition of the fact that Ireland has a very poor playground infrastructure and following consultation with my colleagues, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, two playground grants schemes were established as a direct result of publication of the policy, namely the local authority playground grants scheme and the RAPID playground grants scheme. These schemes have resulted in an additional 77 playgrounds being funded in 2004. Some of those playgrounds are under construction.

I will not go into too much detail on these schemes. In outline, the local authority playground grants scheme involved the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government providing up to 50% funding for the development of new, or the renovation of existing, playgrounds in 2004. Approximately €2 million was allocated by the Department to county and city councils under the scheme. Under the RAPID scheme €3 million was jointly made available by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Department of Health and Children. That will result in 45 playgrounds being built in RAPID areas. Both the schemes provided capital funding for playgrounds and it was a condition of the schemes that the local authority meet ongoing maintenance costs, including insurance.

I am happy to say that both of these schemes are continuing in 2005 and the local authorities will be receiving letters about them in the coming weeks. The 77 playgrounds funded by these schemes are now beginning to open to the public throughout the country and will represent a significant increase in our playground infrastructure. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is administering the local authority playground grants scheme in 2005 and I will raise the issue of funding for this year with the Minister.

I would like to add that the Minister has also committed funding to the provision of facilities for older children in 2005 under the skateboarding scheme. His officials will be liaising with my officials in the National Children's Office in relation to this proposal and also in the context of developing recreation policies for those aged between 12 and 18.