Margaret Cox (Fianna Fail)

We need to send out a single educational message if we are to develop exercise programmes. We should help local authorities to assist clubs which are offering activities to young people and adults and increasing the involvement of communities in exercise. We need to get rid of the bureaucracy. It is important that resources are shared.

I would like to discuss the importance of diet. A comprehensive programme should be put in place to ensure that school authorities work with parents to combat the peer pressure that leads to young people demanding certain types of nibbles. I refer to small processed cheeseburgers and cheese sticks which are not good for children. Children encounter peer pressure when they start to compare what they have been given for lunch. We should go back to the good old days when children were given a piece of fruit, a sandwich and a drink for lunch. I do not refer to fizzy drinks, which are taken to school by many children. School authorities should adopt and implement a policy of not allowing pupils to take fizzy drinks to school. Many parents will argue it is ridiculous to prohibit such drinks, but I think such a policy should be implemented by the Department of Education and Science as part of a carrot and stick approach.

It is great to see the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, in the House today. I ask those who are reflecting on the joined-up approach to consider its practicalities and to forget about bureaucracy. We need to consider the easiest way to make an impact over the next couple of months and into the next couple of years. It is important that we should start to make changes immediately.