Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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Mr. McPartlan referred to what can work in his submission. He commented on a whole-school approach and said that the Government should be investing in measures such as home economics classes, school sports clubs, access to green space, better infrastructure and so forth. However, throughout his submission he ignored the school environment. He ignored vending machines in schools, tuck shops, soft drinks machines in schools and sponsorship of school teams by food companies, all under the veil of advertising. In addition, when children are not in the school environment but outside the school there are advertisements on bus shelters and McDonalds branches in the proximity of schools. Mr. McPartlan spoke about making home economics mandatory in schools. Does he not think it is disjointed to talk about teaching children in the classroom yet it is not followed in the school environment? Can he address that in the context of the joined-up approach he mentioned?