Vol. 435 No. 10
11 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Education the progress, if any, that has been made in assessing the suitability of school furniture following the meetings between her Department and the INTO; and if the continued use of flat-top school furniture will have long term consequences for backache in later life.
All school furniture for national schools grant aided by my Department is designed and manufactured in Ireland in accordance with the relevant official British and Irish Standards. These standards are determined by reference to extensive research and development on school furniture. My Department is constantly monitoring these standards and will constantly update its specifications for school furniture in accordance with any new standards, including standards that might be set at European level. My Department will be in consultation in the near future with the INTO to brief them on the latest position regarding the design and specification of school furniture. There is no evidence available to my Department indicating a link between the type of furniture in use in national schools and the incidence of backache in later life.
(Carlow-Kilkenny): Will the Minister forgive me for saying that that kind of answer, basically the same script read on four previous occasions, the first on 4 December 1990, is giving me a pain in my back?
And in your ear.
(Carlow-Kilkenny): It has nothing to do with the problem I have raised. The Minister's scriptwriter in the Department should be fired as this is the fifth effort to come out. I am talking about the difficulty for children who have to lean over flat topped desks for 14 years as against the old style desk which had a slope of 23 degrees where the person could sit in beside it, sit up straight and write properly, so that lordosis would not occur and the spinal curve would be kept in the proper shape. Will the Minister give a private reply to this question and tell whoever gave her that stupid answer for the fifth time to jump into the river? The matter is far too serious. If this matter is taken seriously by the Department we would be effecting preventative medicine. It has nothing to do with the standard of furniture. It does not matter whether the legs on the desk are square, round or anything else, or whether it is good timber or bad timber. I am talking about the top of the desk. I am referring to a curve into which people can sit, as do architects.
Does the Department think that the world is flat?
I apologise if the Deputy is hearing this answer for the fifth time, but it is the first time I have come to the House to give the answer. The Department is not aware of research that shows that children are suffering because of the use of flat topped desks. I am much more aware of the concern of parents at the weight of school bags which the children carry to school every day and how it affects their backs. I am open to discussion on it. With regard to the old style desks, the children sat before them for hours and were not allowed to move. There is much more movement in classrooms now. I have not a closed mind on this; and if the Deputy, the teaching unions, parents or managements concerned would like to bring up the matter, the Department will review the furniture it recommends. I have lists of technical requirements from which I will spare the Deputy, but if he feels that we could add something to the list I will be more than open to considering it.
(Carlow-Kilkenny): I asked the Minister's predecessor to get medical advice on this, because I have raised it on medical advice which I received when getting treatment for my back. Two experts, one as late as a month ago, said that the fact that children are sitting wrongly in the early part of their lives will affect their backs later on. I have already asked for a medical review by the Department, but I get the same answer about the standard of furniture, which has nothing to do with the issue. The furniture can be as light as the furniture I have used for 20 years, but the question is whether a desk is flat or curved. This is a major problem for the welfare of our children.
I accept that if the Deputy's suggesion works it constitutes preventative medicine. Perhaps we could ask furniture manufacturers to look at the issue, and if catalogues with choices for teachers were produced, they could make the appropriate choice. In the meantime I will go back to the Department and ask for an answer which will reply to the question the Deputy has asked.
