Hanafin lashes playground injury litigation
“Children will play, children will run, children will fall, children will hurt themselves,” she said. “The idea that parents should then consider that somebody else is to blame for that, and should sue, is absolutely outrageous.”
Ms Hanafin was speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics programme. Many schools are opting to ban children from running in playgrounds for fear of costly litigation.
But Ms Hanafin declared: “There’s absolutely no reason why there should be a no-running policy in schools.”
Meanwhile, primary teachers have vowed to redouble their campaign to upgrade all national schools after a report revealed that children are being educated in damp and rat-infested classrooms.
Health and Safety Authority (HSA) inspections during the first four months of this year revealed pupils learning in dilapidated buildings with dangerous wiring. Many classrooms were found to be damp and some were rat-infested. The HSA findings, released under the Freedom of Information Act, back up similar reports commissioned by the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO).
While the Department of Education has said it has allocated €500 million to improving school buildings, INTO general secretary John Carr said the union would not rest until every school in the country was brought up to standard.
In particular, the HSA found that Carns National School in Moneygold, Co Sligo, had a school yard in such poor condition that there was no doubt that it was the cause of many accidents.
St Catherine’s NS in Arthurstown, Co Wexford, had constant condensation problems that had caused teachers to slip on wet floors.
Ardee Community School in Co Louth had an electrical system that breached health and safety regulations.
Other studies carried out by independent consultants, QTS Ltd, last year on behalf of the INTO accuse the department of failing to provide a safe workplace for teachers.
One of the most dilapidate was Ennis NS in Co Clare, which had a improperly covered sewer running through the school. The school has since received €150,000 to deal with sewer and overcrowding.
Kilfinane National School was closed two months ago due to a suspected rat infestation.
Mr Carr said: “While progress has been made, there are some schools where accommodation standards are still totally unacceptable.”
