Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 115: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the increasing number of commercial companies that are advertising their products and shops in schools; the action she intends to take to curb same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5726/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Commercial marketing in schools can take a variety of forms — from educational materials made available to schools by newspapers to companies offering schemes whereby products are given to the school on the basis of tokens collected by parents. It is at the discretion of management in individual schools to decide what commercial initiatives they want their school to engage with. Clearly some initiatives can be of great benefit to schools. However, others might be seen as putting undue pressures on parents to shop in particular stores.

I recognise the sensitivities attached to the issue of promotion initiatives linking schools, students and parents to commercial activity. However, it would be inappropriate for me to ban all commercial links with schools. I believe that local school management is best placed to ensure that schools only participate in programmes that are appropriate and benefit the school community.

School management should ensure that such schemes do not place undue pressure on parents in terms of requiring additional expenditure, that students are protected from engagement in inappropriate promotional activity and that the schemes are linked to desirable projects serving national educational initiatives.