Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

While many other important issues had to be debated in the last while, obesity, which was given much attention several years ago, seemed to have dropped off the radar. It is a serious issue with long-term health and cost implications for the country.

It is welcome that Deputy Áine Brady is the Minister with responsibility for this area. It is the victim of a lack of joined-up government because it falls between many different Departments. Much mention has been made of the responsibilities of Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science. I believe, however, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has a responsibility too. Ireland has a strong agricultural sector producing healthy food products. People need to be made more aware of these and the role they can play in a healthy lifestyle. The new Department of Social Protection also has a role to play because of the higher incidence of obesity in areas of social deprivation. Less healthy foodstuffs also tend to be more expensive which compounds the difficulty.

Obesity has to be tackled in a holistic manner. It is easy to say responsibility for it should rest with schools. The primary responsibility, however, should be in the home. For that to happen we must examine how we get the message into the home.

The first port of call should be the public health nurse. They will be loathe to hear that I suggested they should have any more on their plates because they are already very busy. From my experience, I have found them to be well-qualified and good at imparting information to parents. Their first visit to a home is a good opportunity for them to instil in families the importance of healthy eating and lifestyles. The primary care centres are another good local point where facilities and information on healthy lifestyles and qualified personnel should be available.

I do not want to overload what must be done in schools because there is not much time. I question the PE programme in schools and I question the ability of primary schools in particular to deliver it. I recently had a conversation about how little PE there was when we were in school. That has improved dramatically but there are differences between schools, particularly between girls schools where there is not the same emphasis on competitive sports, which leads to less emphasis on all sports. If one is not good at sports, one is not picked because schools are in competition. That causes difficulty for children's participation and needs to be addressed.

Deputy Wallace referred to vending machines in schools. They should not be there. I remember visiting a public-private partnership school in Munster and being shocked because the school looked like McDonald's. The colouring and signage in the canteen area was like McDonald's. This should be outlawed in schools so that only healthy choices are available. A very good example of this is in Clondalkin, where two teachers took it upon themselves to drive this matter. There is a voucher system in place, with vouchers given to everyone to ensure there is no social stigma. It works very well and could be replicated.

I support labelling. I refer to Deputy Devins's comments on the school weigh-in. I agree with the sentiment but I have concerns about doing it in school. School is a very competitive environment and I have serious worries for children in general, and particularly young girls, about having this done in school when children will ask one another afterwards how they got on and where issues of bullying are rife. This could add to the difficulties experienced in schools.

I refer to the opposite of what we are talking about, eating disorders. When talking about obesity, we must be conscious that we do not make it seem that being skinny is the appropriate direction in which to go. It is about a healthy lifestyle. There is a chronic lack of bed capacity in this country for those who are obese and those who have eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. There are three beds in the entire country for people with anorexia or bulimia; this matter must be addressed.

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