Via Oireachtas.ie:
Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked [Minister for Education and Skills Information] Ruairí Quinn if he has “explored the possibility of reducing the weight of schoolbags”…
Ruairí Quinn: “My Department issued circulars to all primary and post-primary schools in 2005 to highlight the potential health hazard of overweight schoolbags and to outline a range of local measures that could be put in place to help alleviate the problem.
The circulars referred to the recommendations of the previously published report of the Working Group on the Weight of School Bags. This report acknowledged that many of the solutions to this issue belong at local school level and made various recommendations in this regard, such as optimum use of storage facilities, developing pupil organisation skills and timetabling. It is a matter for each individual school to determine which particular measures are most suited to its individual circumstances and to how the school concerned organises teaching and learning.”
The Weight Of Schoolbags – Oireachtas Debates, March 25 (Oireachtas.ie)
Thanks Cormac O’Culain