Mr. Barry Walsh:

We have not done so. At the moment we do not have the resources to do the research ourselves. ILAM has a small administrative team. However, as an industry we need to fight our corner and put ourselves forward in this area.

We certainly saw in our own facilities that when benefit in kind was introduced, the fall-off in company and corporate memberships was phenomenal. Companies then only offered a €250 contribution to their employees. The corporate well-being programmes have almost been eradicated by the introduction of benefit in kind on membership.

Deputy Ó Caoláin's point about children being left behind definitely applies to certain socioeconomic groups. Swimming costs, in particular, are prohibitive but a lot of our facilities, both public and private, are under enormous financial pressure. As an industry, we cannot afford to allow free access to our facilities but we are here today to try to find solutions. I find it slightly ironic that the same socioeconomic groups to which we are referring have free access to GP care through the medical card scheme. A cost benefit analysis should be done. We are on the proactive side of tackling obesity, while the health care system is on the reactive side. We are waiting for people to become obese or overweight and then giving them free access to medical care. Perhaps we could develop a solution whereby we provide free access to leisure facilities through a system similar to the GMS, whereby the providers are given funding for facilitating those from certain socioeconomic groups.