Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and compliment Senator Glynn for his persistence in this matter. Every week he has sought a debate on this topic and tonight he has been accommodated. I also compliment Senator Henry for her well chosen words. She might follow Deputy Twomey's example, leave the Independent benches and join Fine Gael now that we are on our way up and heading for Government. That, however, is an issue for another day.

Diabetes should make us ask if the Department of Health and Children should deal with health or with disease. I have asked that question many times. Are we the fire brigade extinguishing the blaze or are we preventing the fire in the first place? I hope we are the latter, that we are pro-active.

The Minister of State and I are taking part in the BUPA Ireland run on Sunday. We must put in place proper facilities for people to encourage them to exercise. The State cannot be held liable for every aspect of the individual's health but it has a responsibility to put proper sporting facilities in place. A school in Carlow applied for a prefabricated classroom but it was turned down and the Department of Education and Science advised the school to divide the school gym into two halves. How are the children supposed to exercise?

Co-ordinated thinking is required across all Departments, with proper sports facilities at primary and secondary level and on into adult life. We cannot criticise people for not taking exercise when the State does not provide enough facilities. We have a great network of GAA, rugby and soccer clubs but we must keep pushing the sports facilities to allow people to use them. I go running and every time I go out on the roads, I am taking my life in my hands. It is getting more dangerous. All urban areas should have proper running tracks. We must look at the bigger picture instead of spending millions of euro putting the fire out when lesser expenditure would help to prevent the fire in the first place.

It is estimated that 300,000 people have diabetes and around a third of those are undiagnosed. Fine Gael proposes a national screening programme which would ascertain the extent of the problem and make people aware of it so they can solve it. We recommend periodic health screening for specific age groups. There should be routine health checks and age and gender specific screening for each adult with urine analysis, blood pressure, cholestrol levels, body mass index and blood sugar levels tested.

These tests are simple and inexpensive but can be effective in detecting illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. They can also be carried out in the local GP surgery. This national screening programme should begin at 20 years of age for women and 30 for men, with tests to be undertaken at five yearly intervals until age 50 for women, every three years after that until 70 and then every two years after that. For men the tests would be done every five years until age 60 and then every three years until 70, with biannual checks thereafter. We will also push a strong health promotion initiative aimed at reducing obesity and its associated problems such as heart disease and diabetes.

Senator Glynn's analogy about getting the car checked every year is perfect. People have no difficulty going to a mechanic for their cars but they do not do it for themselves, particularly men. We must get into the habit of going to the doctor on a regular basis and getting tested for diabetes and heart disease. That would help prevent many of the problems later in life.

Along with Senator Glynn, I met the delegation from the Diabetes Federation of Ireland and was impressed by the great work it does. I was surprised that it only received €63,000 for the year. That should be increased because its work is so worthwhile. A friend of mine with diabetes gets a magazine from the federation every month which contains very useful information. The organisation would certainly benefit from more money.

I did not understand the references the delegation made to podiatrists but there is a link between undiagnosed diabetes and amputation. That involves very significant costs and people do not want to lose a limb. The federation has recommended 70 podiatrists for the State and we should ensure that figure is met. Some people wait for two years between diagnosis and seeing a consultant. The ideal scenario would be one consultant for every 50,000 but at present we only have one for every 150,000.

Unfortunately we also need more paediatric consultants. I attended a talk in Trinity College Dublin by a consultant in St. James's Hospital. He pointed out that diabetes is common in older people but the very worrying trend is that type 2 diabetes, commonly found in people aged 50 and over, is now turning up in teenagers.

Senator Glynn was correct in his comments on food labelling and food types. In our busy lives we are bombarded with low fat diets and convenience foods but the labelling is not clear. Kellogg's was mentioned and while it has done some good work, I have seen different reports stating that the company's products are not as good as it claims. We no longer have time to analyse this information, we all know we should be cooking fresh vegetables and eating fruit but we do not do it. We should work at EU level to push for clear labelling of food produce and foods that claim to be low in fat should be genuinely tested.

I phoned a friend of mine who was diagnosed with diabetes at 50 years of age when I saw this debate was coming up and he sang the praises of the service locally. We must push health promotion advertising to explain the symptoms of diabetes because people are not aware they might have it. It is a major difficulty in every health area. My friend had to give up smoking, which he was not too happy about, but he is doing it. We must publicise the symptoms of diabetes and explain the link with blindness and amputation. There is a also need for dieticians.

I congratulate the Diabetes Federation of Ireland on the great work it is doing; it is holding a conference in Kilkenny on Sunday. I urge the Government to be pro-active because prevention is always better than the cure.