Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to acknowledge and congratulate the teachers and students in secondary schools throughout counties Cavan and Monaghan who recently completed the Irish Heart Foundation CPR 4 Schools programme. All the secondary schools in County Cavan have completed the programme, with 27 teachers across the county now qualified to teach CPR. The schools in County Monaghan are not far behind, with 83 secondary schools currently engaged on the programme. The Irish Heart Foundation, which I congratulate on its initiative, hopes to roll out the CPR 4 Schools programme to all secondary schools in the country. It is a very ambitious plan to save lives. Schools in counties Monaghan and Cavan are leading the way and I compliment them for that.

It should be noted that there are 5,000 cardiac arrests each year in this country. A person qualified in CPR being close by when a person suffers a heart attack could be the difference between life and death. In any given year, there are approximately 365,000 students in our secondary schools and there is the potential for all of those students to become competent in CPR, which could save lives.

While I commend the teachers and students for their passion and initiative, the programme shines a light on the Department of Education and Skills which is not doing its job in regard to CPR and first aid in general. That was one of the main reasons that I introduced the First Aid and Mental Health in Schools (Existing Teachers) Bill 2018 and the First Aid and Mental Health in Schools (Initial Teacher Training) Bill 2018 a couple of weeks ago which, thankfully, received the unanimous support of all Senators. I thank them for that support. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, needs to take the lead and ensure that our students and teachers are fully qualified in first aid. They can be taught nothing more important than how to save a life.