Education: Labour was proposing that PE (physical education) should be made a fully-fledged Leaving Certificate subject, said Harry Barrett, a candidate for Mayo.
It was important that sport was brought to the centre of everybody's lives for enjoyment, general health and well-being, he added. Points could be got for doing music, but not sport.
"We need to encourage people to think of sport and recreation as a core part of their education," he said.
Cllr Martin Coughlan, candidate for Cork North West, called for the establishment of an Open University in Ireland as he said many people could not access third-level opportunities. He said the Open University in the UK already operated here and a similar university in Ireland could work in partnership with it.
Brendan Ryan, a candidate for Dublin North, said school principals played a crucial role in education. Labour was committed to providing opportunities for them to make their schools successful.