Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Cathaoirleach did great work in the whole area of fisheries when he was a Deputy.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Kyne, to the House. This is the first time I have had an opportunity to welcome him here. I congratulate him on the outstanding job he is doing.

Before the crash, significant funding was made available from central Government for playgrounds which was accessed primarily by local authorities. Clare County Council gave funding to community groups through a partnership approach, which was successful in developing and building playgrounds. Other counties adopted different models.

Are there any plans to have any further funding schemes or streams available from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs for local authorities to build new playgrounds in areas of population and areas which have not benefitted from them before? If such funding is made available, will there be a condition that the playgrounds have to be accessible to people with various forms disability? Universal design playgrounds are possible. Over the past several years, the people who supply equipment to playgrounds, particularly in the UK, have done enormous work to ensure equipment is universally accessible. Any funding made available for playgrounds should be predicated on them being accessible to people with disabilities.

Many existing playgrounds need to be refurbished and retrofitted. It is not beyond reason for the scheme to be put in place to facilitate local authorities in this regard. If that is to happen, the equipment to be purchased should be of universal design nature too.

I am not sure over the past several years what funding from central Government, if any, has been available for playgrounds. The funding provided has been spent wisely and the playgrounds are extremely busy. The playground in Lahinch, County Clare, has thousands of children using it every month. What is the Minister's position on this? The universal design model needs to be embraced and encouraged.