Where possible, national school health examinations are carried out on the following basis: a comprehensive medical examination of all new entrants to national schools; a selective medical examination of children in the nine to ten years age group; and examination of other children selected on the basis of information furnished about them by their parents, teachers, nurses and other interested parties.
The scheme is structured in a manner that ensures as far as possible that every child is examined at least once and, on the basis of random checking at nine to ten years of age twice or more in some cases.
In 1989, the latest figures available to my Department indicate that over 21 per cent of the national school population was examined.