asked the Minister for Education if she will clarify the statement made by the Minister of State at her Department to the Millennium Sports Conference, in which he (1) dealt with the contribution made by the primary school teachers to the development of sports and (2) announced a new funding policy, in view of the discontent it has caused with many of the primary teaching profession.
Written Answers. - Sport in Primary Schools.
138.
The Minister of State in my Department, in a wide ranging address to the Millennium Sports Conference, referred to the whole spectrum of sport in Ireland. In the context of sport in primary schools he mentioned that in the past much depended on the goodwill of teachers to provide a sport and recreation outlet for the vitally important five to 12 year old age group. The Minister of State and I have on numerous occasions paid tribute to the goodwill of teachers in providing sport and physical education in schools.
The Minister of State did not announce a new funding policy at the conference but rather announced that under the annual scheme of grants to sporting organisations he had substantially increased funding to an existing organisation, the Irish Mini-Sport Movement, to enable them to expand their activities and to appoint, for the first time, a full-time development officer to work with teachers throughout the country.
I am surprised that such a statement should give rise to the discontent suggested by the Deputy.