Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. Their remarks provided stark reading when I was going through then yesterday. I want to note, with appreciation, the suggestions made. All flippancy aside, we were only discussing it prior to the witnesses coming in. This is the first of what we believe will be very extensive hearings on the matter of childhood obesity. It is important that we started off with persons with a great deal of involvement dealing with the aftermath. Our intention is to thoroughly investigate the witnesses' role in dealing with this problem and then, hopefully, working backwards to try to get back to some of the causes and preventative measures that could be taken at an earlier age.

All comments and contributions are very much appreciated. I will open the debate up to the floor and will start with my colleague, Deputy Sherlock.