Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Irish tax system was mentioned yesterday and some interesting figures have been published recently in that regard. They show that Irish companies spend 80 hours per year in organising their tax affairs, compared to Germany which spends 218 hours. In other words, we are very efficient in our tax system and, on that basis, we are also efficient in our ability to collect tax. We may criticise the Department of Finance a great deal and have spoken about the mandarins there, but it seems there are occasions on which we should offer congratulations. This is good news and it is worthy of being reported.

The Department of Education and Skills should make swimming lessons compulsory for schools. I was surprised to see that 15 EU member states have introduced compulsory swimming classes for schools. They issue a safety passport for children. Young people aged 12 or 13 should be able to swim. We have had 478 deaths by drowning between 2010 and 2013. We can do something about this. Perhaps we can influence the Minister for Education and Skills to achieve the introduction of such swimming classes in schools. I know there would be a cost involved but if it cost €5 million to introduce such a system, I would not be surprised if we could obtain sponsorship for it. We should think of the lives that would be saved as a result of that €5 million expenditure. It would be worthwhile making swimming lessons compulsory for 12 and 13 year olds. In that way, we could equal the standards that have been achieved in other countries.