Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. It has been really interesting. I recall when I was in the Union of Students of Ireland, we disaffiliated from Drinkaware because we recognised that it did not make sense for a drinks company to be leading off on this. It was highly controversial when we did it more than ten years ago. It caused a furore at the time. It is very interesting hearing the witnesses talking today and being able to give ourselves a pat on the back to recognise that we were right at the time.

I am struck by the fact that someone mentioned that a lot of the things are tinkering around the edges. I often wonder about and I have an enormous number of questions about the impact of television shows. We have "Ireland's Fittest Family" and "Operation Transformation" and all these others that filter out into the wider community. We have "Operation Transformation"-style things in schools, for example. They are possibly considered as being very well-meaning and giving opportunities and inspiration to people. Is there any evidence that, not only are these tinkering around the edges and are not really meaningful drivers of change, but they could be detrimental? We hear a lot from groups on the issues of disordered eating or intuitive eating about the impact that "Operation Transformation" and other things that tinker around the edges can have, particularly on young people. Perhaps some of these things can have the complete opposite result of what is intended. I know this point is a bit more micro than some of the bigger levers we were talking about. Is there any evidence to show that these pieces that tinker around the edges are detrimental and are doing the complete opposite of what we are hoping to do?