Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to make my contribution to this debate, picking up where Deputy Fergus O'Dowd left off. We were all participants in Operation Transformation. I lost 20 lbs during the programme but I have lost approximately two stone at this stage. Last Christmas I was sitting at home thinking I was unfit and unhealthy. I was not feeling great and I had a medical checkup. I decided I would become fitter and it goes to show that with commitment and a little effort this can be achieved.

I came from a fitness background, having been in the industry for 14 years running a health club with my wife in New Ross. I was very conscious of the effort people make in trying to lose weight. It is a huge industry. Everybody is body wise and has difficulties with how he or she looks or is perceived. It is a massive industry and people are searching for solutions. The success of Operation Transformation was to mobilise the nation. In recent years it was on the national airwaves and people were watching it but this year, because of the involvement of outside groups, it took on a greater focus and momentum. I congratulate Gerry Ryan and his team on their efforts. I am not sure they thought the politicians would do as well as we did. We lost almost 27 stones among 15 people. This is a phenomenal amount of weight, if one imagines it as 27 one-stone bags of potatoes. That is a lot of weight among 15 people of mixed abilities, age groups and backgrounds. As I travelled around the country, it was an issue everywhere. Everyone wanted to know about Operation Transformation and it took the focus away from the economy and other things. The bottom line was how much we had lost each week and whether we had seen Gerry Ryan. There was a serious message being sent out and this message got through to many people. Deputy O'Dowd made the point that it is important to carry on this effort. I continue to exercise. Being appointed as Minister of State, which means being located on the fifth floor of Agriculture House, is very helpful because in the past few days I have been up and down Kildare Street non-stop. It is just as well my fitness levels had increased before I was appointed.

We are speaking in the context of two out of three Irish adults being an unhealthy weight, with almost 25% of people obese. This suggests that almost 60,000 Irish people could be medically eligible for weight loss surgery, a shocking figure. The figures concerning the banks are shocking, such as the €8 billion pumped into Anglo Irish Bank. Some 2,000 premature deaths were caused by diseases related to obesity. It cost the State more than €4 billion each year. That is half the amount we are putting into Anglo Irish Bank.

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