Mr. Tomás Ó Ruairc:

Ba mhaith linn ár mbuíochas a ghabháil leis an gcoiste as an deis a thabhairt don gComhairle Múinteoireachta labhairt faoin ábhar tábhachtach seo. I thank the Acting Chairman and members for this opportunity to address them on the topic of childhood obesity. The Teaching Council is the statutory professional standards body for teaching in Ireland. We are responsible for promoting and regulating the profession of teaching under the Teaching Council Acts 2001 to 2015.

Research shows that obesity is a significant issue of concern for us in Ireland but we need to see it as one aspect of the overall health and well-being of children, young people and of us all. Education has a vital role to play in this process but it cannot do so in isolation from other areas of public health and public policy. It has taken time for the issue to reach these levels of concern and it will take time, along with co-ordinated and concerted effort, to reverse this trend in a long-lasting and sustainable way.

What do we know about the link between mental health and weight? Professor Jim Lucey described it as a situation where poor mental health is both a consequence of, and contributor to, the problem of excessive weight. In other words, they are closely interlinked. It would seem prudent, therefore, not to seek to address one in isolation from the other.

In terms of the responsibility of teachers from a Teaching Council point of view, section 4.4 of the code of the professional conduct for teachers, which was prepared and published by the council, states, "Teachers should: apply their knowledge and experience in facilitating pupils’/students’ holistic development." Facilitation implies that teachers have an important role and responsibility in supporting learners in their holistic development, but that cannot supplant the responsibility which others have in the lives of those young people, namely, families, parents, the wider community, medical and health professionals, and young people themselves. The council's criteria and guidelines for programmes of initial teacher education state, "In all areas of study there should be provision for: - students' personal and social development, having regard to teachers' pastoral role."

The establishment of the Wellbeing for Teachers and Learners Group is an important development in terms of the need to address the overall well-being needs of all members of the school community at the same time. Obesity is a challenge for the adult population every bit as much as it is for children and young people. The Wellbeing for Teachers and Learners Group was established by the Irish Primary Principals' Network, IPPN, the National Association for Principals and Deputy Principals, NAPD, the Ombudsman for Children, the National Parents Council Primary and the Teaching Council.

In terms of the key message the Teaching Council wants to give to the committee, we are of the view that we need to tackle the problem of childhood obesity but this must be done as part of a holistic approach to the overall health and well-being of children, young people and adults. Education has a vital role to play in that endeavour.

Teachers, as the leaders of learning in education, have a key role to play in ensuring that education plays its part in supporting individual and community well-being, but that role cannot be fulfilled sustainably in isolation from all the other professionals who work in this area. Each of us has a responsibility in this area and each one of us can do a lot but we can do so much more when we work effectively together. We know that is true from the experience of the Wellbeing for Teachers and Learners Group, which has demonstrated what can be achieved when all members of the school community work together to support each other's well-being. The key point, therefore, in the context of tackling childhood obesity is to understand in the first instance that it is but one aspect of the overall well-being of the school-going population. It is, in effect, a whole-of-person issue. Such an issue calls for a whole-of-system response. We need to join the dots.