Vol. 429 No. 6
310 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the increase in school pupils who smoke; if she intends to take any steps to help schools to curb this increase in smoking; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
As I indicated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 85 on 11 March 1993 concerning the abuse of substances including tobacco, my Department has co-operated with the Department of Health and its agencies and with voluntary groups, in initiatives which seek to support schools in developing educational programmes on such topics.
The issue of the health-promoting school is one which will be further dealt with in the White Paper on Education.
In the meantime I propose to continue to support and develop action in the area of education and to provide the resources required by such development.
