Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all those who made presentations. We have debated this issue over the past few months. When I was growing up, I did not know anybody on my road who was obese. Everybody skipped and played beds, rounders and football. On Hallowe'en, I saw the largest number of children on my street over the past number of weeks as they knocked on doors with their baskets. It would have been an interesting exercise to have pricked the finger of every child in school the following day to see how much their sugar levels had increased. Two 14-year-old lads knocked on my door and said they only wanted money or sweets and that anything else would not be acceptable. I love a bar of chocolate. I bought a tape in the chemist that one puts around one's waist and found that I am obese. I was not obese in my late teens or early 20s but when I started to have children, for some strange reason, I became obese. Lifestyle is an issue and I agree with Deputies Ó Caoláin and Troy that the amount people have in their pockets is also an issue.

We had a group before the committee a few weeks ago talking about healthy food, and I was struck by a number of remarks they made. They said more children in poorer areas are obese because they eat cheaper cuts of meat and eat fish fingers rather than fish. If I go into my local supermarket to buy fish, I am always struck by the fact that one piece of fish costs more than the hourly minimum wage. As we are an island nation, we must do something to rectify this. Parents - I include myself in this - fill supermarket baskets, not children, and there is a significant responsibility on them. It is no harm to put in a bar of chocolate now and again but we need to realise that what people are putting in does not reflect what children should eat. I believe a little of everything is good for people. I do not drink or smoke and nothing is harmful if it is consumed in moderation. I have never met a child who plays camogie where I live. The kids I know play football in the local GAA club on Saturdays and they kick around a ball at the local youth club. I think, therefore, that Mr. White and I are talking about a different range of people.

If I had a wish come true tomorrow and the State had loads of money, I would provide funding for schools to make sure every child has a one-hour physical education lesson every day with a professionally trained PE teacher and not with the girl who is trying to teach them English, Irish and mathematics. If we are serious about tackling childhood obesity, we need to start putting primary school children into gymnasiums where professionals can put them through rigorous exercises. I do not mean boot camps, but that is where we should begin. Many children where I live are delighted when their parents take them for a walk along the canal or to the local park, but most parents sit in front of the television or an iPad or something else that prevents them from taking time out of their busy days to sit with their children for ten minutes. Like most parents, I work, and I feel that over the past 13 years that I have been in politics, I have missed out on a great deal of the lives of my two youngest girls.

I thank the representatives for their interesting presentations, but the number one priority is to put children into gymnasiums in school. I know many families who cannot afford to go swimming in the local pool in Ballyfermot because they do not have the money.