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

The witnesses' opening statement made for stark reading, particularly some of the statistics provided for our assessment. It occurs to me as someone who will go through this process with his colleagues over the next number of months - it could be six or seven months and well into the autumn before we complete it - that, when trying to figure out how to approach it and what the best model would be, there are three or four main themes, those being, food intake and education, psychology, and health, exercise and activity. If the witnesses put themselves in our shoes for a moment, how would they approach it? From my perspective, it is not just about physical activity, although that is an important aspect. A fear of litigation was mentioned. That situation is crazy. While I was in a primary school in my constituency not that long ago, I heard a teacher roaring "stop running" as I walked through the yard. I wondered why anyone would stop a child running. I would not mind, but it was on grass. I thought it might be the small break and the school had that element of discipline so I did not interfere, but it appeared strange. I did not remember it happening in my yard. I still have some of the scars on my knees from my old school yard.

This is an issue with which we need to try to get to grips. We must try to break the cycle of screen time and the other elements that the committee discussed in our previous reporting.

On the healthy eating side, ease of access to foodstuffs that are saturated in fat, sugar or worse is an issue. I noted the interesting discussion between Senators Noone and Reilly and Deputy Neville on sugar tax and its effectiveness. I was always concerned that a sugar tax might have a detrimental effect on certain socioeconomic groupings. That remains to be borne out, but it is positive to see the industry taking the initiative and opting for drinks that are less sugar sweetened. Senator Noone has done considerable work in that regard, at least from the perspective of public perception. It is noted and appreciated.

The other side of the situation is the question of psychological issues with food and food intake, be those relating to bullying, the body image issues that Deputy Neville alluded to or a failure to parent, which might be an abuse in itself or a result of abuse or lack of knowledge about how to parent in respect of food intake. There are multiple strands.

If the witnesses were involved in the process that we are going through, what steps would they take? Would they follow this thematic approach? Do they have suggestions?