Dr. Cliodhna Foley-Nolan:

With regard to the START campaign, we spoke to parents and other stakeholders and, to put it very succinctly, they said they did not want to be lectured at but to be motivated and encouraged. The messages we came up with as a result were start now, start today and start again if people fall off the wagon or give in to pester power. This is where START came from.

In the context of measuring, I have not read the depositions from the three unions, but what I reckon is at the back of it is concern about stigma. This is a real concern, but there are school medical services and we are already measuring the eyes, ears and teeth. If things are not measured, they cannot be managed. It is a simple as that. It will take normalisation. There will be a level of non-acceptance. However, 20 years ago it was quite reasonable to smoke if one went to visit a new baby in someone's home. It just takes time to normalise these things.