Vol. 504 No. 3
33 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the extent to which he is co-operating with the Department of Education and Science to promote sport in our schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11775/99]
In pursuit of the policy objective of developing strategies to increase participation in sport, my Department has agreed with the Department of Education and Science to launch an initiative involving the Irish Sports Council and the National Coaching and Training Centre, which is designed to help schools increase participation in sport and physical education. The Department of Education and Science is already piloting a new physical education curriculum in selected schools throughout the country.
The new initiative will provide for specialist training in the National Coaching and Training Centre for club coaches, teachers and parents which will enable them to work with children in selected schools in expanding and enhancing the range and quality of sport available. It is intended that this training will help achieve synergy between schools and the resources and expertise available to them in clubs and sports organisations in the local community.
Other programmes under way in the area of children's and school sport are Youth Sport Foyle and Youth Sport West, which are operated by Donegal and Sligo Vocational Education Committees respectively in co-operation with the Western Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland. The purpose of these projects is to develop mechanisms to establish links, and maintain them on an ongoing basis, between schools and sports organisations and local clubs aimed at providing positive sporting experiences for school children across a range of sports activities.
