There are only seven public playgrounds for thousands of children in Co Kerry. In an effort to encourage local communities to build their own play facilities, Kerry County Council is promising to provide insurance cover for community-initiated playgrounds, once the facilities comply with safety standards.
The playgrounds will be operated directly under the control and management of the council.
The lack of play facilities for children is contrary to the UN convention on the rights of the child which states that a child has the right to engage in leisure, play and recreational activities, according to a new policy on playgrounds published by the county council yesterday. It can cost anything between €40,000 and €120,000 to build a playground. If local communities can fund the facilities, the council will then take them over and provide insurance cover.
There are 27,000 children in Kerry and hundreds of thousands more holiday in what is Ireland's busiest tourism county each year.
The seven existing public playgrounds are concentrated in five towns and villages. The major tourist towns of Dingle, and Kenmare have no public playground.
The county council playground policy document says there is no specific legislation on children's play nationally, and no provision of funds by a Government Department.
The number of playgrounds are far fewer than the number of GAA pitches, according to the council policy document titled Developing play in Kerry.
The scheme in Kerry will act as a blueprint for other local authorities interested in developing play policies, according to Cllr Tom Fleming (FF), chairperson of the Kerry Play Advisory Committee.
A guideline booklet, Ag Spraoi, covers eight basic steps, outlining how to identify a site, plan and design, select equipment and apply for planning permission. It also includes a list of commonly asked questions.
Playgrounds should be a dog-free zone, and should be supervised in terms of litter and anti-social behaviour, the booklet strongly advises.
The only known sources of funds are development programmes such as Leader, the village enhancement scheme, as well as commercial and local fundraising. The Dormant Accounts Fund is also listed.
Ms Niamh O'Sullivan, co-ordinator of the policy with Kerry County Council, said insurance costs need not be an obstacle to providing playgrounds for children, as compensation claims from playground accidents are only a tiny fraction of total claims.
The National Children's Office is currently preparing a National Play Policy for government consideration. The National Children's strategy, Our Children - Their Lives, which set out a series of objectives, was published in 2000.