John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome reports this morning that the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, is at last taking action to explore the role of its auditors and the apparent failings of oversight in the catastrophe that has overtaken that institution. I believe I can speak for many people in voicing frustration with the slow pace of the investigations in this area. Perhaps some of the other banks and financial institutions could usefully follow the lead of the IBRC in this regard.

Another report, Growing Up in Ireland, was published this morning. The report has been tracking the progress of 7,500 children over recent years. It is good to see that our 13 year olds are doing well and generally are happy. One point that might raise concern, however, is the suggestion that 25% of 13 year olds are experiencing difficulty with being overweight. Senator Eamonn Coghlan has been doing much good work in the year since his report was published. We could usefully assist Senator Coghlan with his progress on this report if we had another debate in the House about this.

The chief researcher said this morning that there are no plans to follow up this report in another three years. Is this due to a lack of funding or is it considered the best way to proceed? If it is due to a lack of funding, that would be inappropriate and I call on the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Health to make funding available to ensure this valuable project can continue.