Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the speakers and thank them for their presentations. The figures presented are shocking. As a country we need to wake up and recognise that we have a problem. This is an issue that has been largely ignored but it is an extremely important one.

A number of the points I wanted to raise have been covered. I want to highlight the importance of education both at home and in school, to touch on a few points that Deputy Catherine Byrne raised and to speak about how society has changed. When I was a child there was no daytime television and therefore we were out all day. People spend a good deal of time sitting in front of the television today and with all the time young people spend on PlayStation and other devices they are not engaged in as much outdoor activity as they should be. Many parents lead very busy lives and often do not get home from work until late in the evening. Compared to the dinners we had as children when mothers worked in the home, dinners today, when many mothers do not get home some evenings until 7 p.m., may consist of fast food two or three times a week. Pizza and chips are the order of the day. Cakes were a treat when we were young but they are not so much of a treat today. We did not have fizzy drinks when I was growing up but they are the order of the day today. Therefore, society has greatly changed.

I wish to refer to the point about education in schools.