Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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There is certainly food for thought in both contributions. One of the most important things to observe in terms of the built environment from Mr. Ryan's perspective is that for the most part, certainly from my community's perspective as a new developing community in Fingal in north Dublin, the vast majority of the towns and villages in my constituency are developing at a rapid rate. This presents a wonderful opportunity for local authorities to approach it from a development perspective and add in public open spaces, recreation spaces, adult exercise equipment, playgrounds and sports campuses. It is much more difficult to do this in more established communities. In my capacity as Chairman of this committee, I was recently asked to present awards alongside David Gillick at a youth club in Dublin 1. The event, which was sponsored by a health insurance firm and another private firm, was very beneficial to the children in question. One of the remarks I heard from the teenagers was that there were very little city centre-based recreation facilities for them, which is a fair observation. Obviously, Dublin city was developed at a time when pleasure parks were all the rage as opposed to running tracks, swimming pools and so forth. It is a challenge for local authorities to build in facilities such as public parks, even on a small scale. It is unlikely that a city centre development would accommodate a public open space of the size of Mountjoy Square or St. Stephen's Green but there are options. If one looks at what Dublin City Council is doing to Mountjoy Square, one can see that what the council is trying to achieve with that public space, which has been a no-go area in the past, particularly after nightfall. This is a positive development and it is nice to see the city approaching it from that perspective. That is one of the observations I would make based on first-hand experience from Dublin 1 residents. Young people had in mind what was on their doorstep to aid them in pursuing a healthy lifestyle in terms of physical exercise.

The "no-fry" zone approach some local authorities are considering is a cure rather than prevention. The cure is to build through the local authority planning system opportunities for people, young and old, to avail of physical exercise. The prevention element involves the actions some local authorities are taking to prevent fast food outlets from opening in close proximity to schools. I accept both principles and I do not dismiss the witnesses' softer approach, with which I do not necessarily disagree. It would be helpful if we developed central guidelines rather than having individual local authorities approach the matter on a county basis. It would be helpful if the CCMA, in tandem with the Department, were to develop a policy on this in the development guidelines. A centralised approach would be more beneficial than having this done by individual councils.

I have gone through what steps the various local authorities have taken on this, including Fingal County Council. One of my local authority members, Councillor Tom O'Leary, proposed the introduction of a "no-fry" zone in Fingal County Council based on the Wexford example that was raised at this committee a number of months ago. The proposal has gone to the appropriate strategic policy committee in the council for review. I accept that it is not possible to close a fast food outlet. One would even have to define what a fast food outlet is and review what a convenience store is in terms of what it is selling. I accept, therefore, that this approach has pros and cons.

Would it not be better to empower local authorities to restrict the opening hours of such facilities, regardless of where they are located, whether within 200 m or 300 m or whatever other arbitrary figure we choose, to ensure they are not open at lunchtime? As somebody who works in a village on Mondays and Fridays when I am not in the Oireachtas, I see school uniforms outside the chipper, which is less than 100 m from my office door. It is quite depressing because it is more than a mile from the school but the students seem to have time to get to and from the chipper. This happens every day. Those children are then going home and having a full meal as well. Would it be better to approach this issue from the point of view of opening hours?