Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

50. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will ensure that an exemption is made available to leisure centres which facilitate school physical education for schools with no indoor physical education facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34006/20]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The provision of the physical education curriculum is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Education. Advice and guidance has been provided by the Minister to schools to facilitate their operation and I would refer the Deputy to that advice as it pertains to physical education.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government in agreeing to move to Level 5 restrictions on 19 October last also agreed that an exemption from the public health restrictions would apply in respect of outdoor non-contact sports training for school-age children in pods of up to 15. My Department has provided guidance to the sporting bodies to assist their in applying all necessary public health guidance to ensure the training activity is done in a safe and controlled way. This guidance is available on the Departmental website at www.gov.ie. In addition, Sport Ireland have disseminated a wide range of guidance documents to the sporting bodies in respect of training for adults and children, which is also available at the Sport Ireland website www.sportireland.ie. I would encourage everyone involved in sports training for children to review this guidance to ensure they understand fully how to prepare for training sessions and supervise the children and adolescents - as well as any attendant parents - to ensure that the children can enjoy the activity while mitigating the risks of COVID-19 transmission.