Mr. Chris Macey:

Deputy Ó Riordáin asked about PE. Only 10% of children receive the minimum recommended amount of PE in Irish secondary schools. We are not asking for retention of the status quo. We are asking for implementation of the recommendations and of stated Government policy.

Obesity was once a rich person’s disease but now it is a poor person’s disease. Unhealthy food is getting cheaper because that is where the money is. The food industry is finding ways to make unhealthy food, which is popular, cheaper, and as a result healthy food seems more expensive. A man who has had a heart attack helps some of our promotional work. His family used to eat fast food five days a week before he had his heart attack. Now they have it four days a week because it is cheaper to order in a family pizza than to cook a proper meal.

In response to Senator Healy Eames’s point about strong and weak performers in the field, we know, and research shows, that in team sports there is a concentration on winning and competition, which is great for the students who are good at sport but is not good or encouraging for those who are not. By all means develop elite sports people - we need them - but remember the majority.