Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I congratulate Deputy Connick on his appointment. I hope he does well in that office, in which I spent five years as Minister of State some time ago.

I wish in my contribution to move away from what has been said already. When I hear the word "obesity" I think of a killer of people, a destroyer of self-esteem and a robber of scarce Exchequer resources. There is no bigger health issue. There are disturbing trends emerging in terms of obesity. This is happening against the wishes and will of people who are doing their level best not to go that route.

Obesity is causing us huge problems. I have been informed that 2,000 deaths per year are attributable to obesity in one form or another, which is a huge issue. Perhaps the same type of psychology used to help people to give up smoking could be used to assist people in overcoming obesity, a problem that has played mental havoc with so many people I have known down through the years. The Minister of State and I met yesterday with people in regard to an interesting experiment in education. This programme is currently operated in England by primary and secondary school teachers. This new formula will not add to the curriculum but is integrated with mathematics. I do not have the time now to show how a teacher could integrate this formula with maths or science. However, it is possible to do so.

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