Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner to Ireland and thank him for today's presentation. The committee would endorse many of the proposals put forward. I wish to raise the issue of childhood obesity, which was highlighted in the presentation. Children today will form the first generation whose life expectancy may be less than that of their parents because of childhood obesity. It is a strong criticism of all of us. We must take action and we cannot let that statement stand.

In Ireland, one in four children is overweight or obese.

A total of four out of five children do not meet the physical activity guidelines. We know the issues and the problems. The Commissioner rightly focused on the areas of prevention and early intervention. Is the Commission willing to consider a sugar tax or a way to incentivise healthier eating, with the money derived from such a tax going towards healthier foods, as the Commissioner mentioned in his presentation? In Ireland, one in eight children lives in consistent poverty. There has been an increase in poverty during these tough economic times. We also know food poverty is a real issue and we must find a way to have policies which support healthy eating and healthier lifestyles.

In the overall budgetary process of the Commission, how do we ensure prevention and early intervention? With the deficit targets, governments are very focused on the immediacy of actions, and the committee sees this with regard to our budgets for health and children. We must focus on the year-to-year, so there is no incentive for the Government. We all know what will happen to the population in ten and 20 years' time with regard to alcohol, tobacco and childhood obesity. Where will the EU do to incentivise us to take actions today in our budgets and make investments now which will reap rewards in ten or 20 years' time? With the deficit targets, there are no incentives for the Government to do this. What does the Commissioner plan to do, and does he plan to set aside money for prevention and early intervention programmes? Everybody agrees on their importance, but we need to see action and leadership from the EU.