Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe Costello. Some years ago the county child care committee in Sligo established the Early Years health promotion project which is now co-sponsored by Sligo and Leitrim child care committees in collaboration with the counties' sports partnerships, a community dietician and community workers from the Health Service Executive. What is being done under the scheme is simple but practical, namely, targeting young children up to six years of age to encourage healthy eating, physical activity, oral health, sun safety, gardening and outdoor play. This is the type of project to which we routinely point when it is done in one of the Scandinavian countries and we wonder why we cannot have something similar in this country. As we are all agreed, if we are to safeguard the nation's health, we must begin to work with children and their parents at the earliest possible stage of development.

The number of children involved in the scheme in counties Sligo and Leitrim has grown steadily from the 500 earmarked five years ago to more than 1,500 today. The cost of running the scheme is calculated at 58 cent per child per week. It includes working with children with special needs, parent and toddler groups, children from the Traveller community and private and community services. As well as directly benefiting the children concerned, the initiative is also building a nucleus of knowledge and good practice in the community in regard to healthy eating and living. The benefits for the wider community are clear to see after only five years and will undoubtedly build over time. There should be something similar in every community in the country. The statistics clearly show that more and more children are suffering from obesity, with all the evidence suggesting the problem will get worse in the next decade without effective intervention. The Seanad Public Consultation Committee, of which I am a member, recently heard that some 30% of common cancers were preventable entirely through lifestyle changes, that is, what we eat and drink and the amount of physical activity in which we engage. The Government must take action to ensure children receive a good grounding in healthy living which they can carry into adulthood and pass on thereafter to their own children.

I am seeking a guarantee that funding for the Early Years project in Sligo-Leitrim will continue once the current allocation runs out in September. The Government has indicated its desire to roll out a national programme of this type, but there has been no concrete action in this regard. I understand the Health Service Executive is examining the strengths and weaknesses of the programme, perhaps with a view to using it as a model. Those running the Early Years scheme support and advocate a national project and will do everything they can to assist in its roll-out. At this juncture, however, they are uncertain of the future of their own project. Their expertise and good work should be supported and taken on board in seeking to introduce a nationwide scheme. For that to happen, sufficient funding must be provided.