Maurice Hayes (Independent)

Last Sunday, 30 school children from Drogheda got into severe distress in the Mourne Mountains. Luckily, nobody died. While I am not here to assign blame, I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Education and Science to come to the House to explain why there appear to be no guidelines in this area. Very strict guidelines exist in this area in Northern Ireland about the ratio of teachers to pupils, the training of guides, clothing and other matters. While one does not want to wrap kids engaged in outward bound activities in cotton wool, it is important to put guidelines in place.

I advert to the issue raised by Senator Ryan in case he thinks my voice was part of the chorus which appeared to approve the reduction in the number of medical cards.