Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure some Senators have heard of the new video game Pokémon GO. It is relatively new to me. It is sweeping the mobile gaming market in the US and apparently it has overtaken Twitter in the popularity stakes in some cases. What it is different about this app is that contrary to most video games, which encourage a sedentary lifestyle, this inspires teens to get out of the house and walk. The augmented reality game mixes the real world with the colourful world of Pokémon, bringing the creatures into towns and streets. Apparently this is having a ripple effect on health in the US. It may be the novelty factor but Pokémon GO seems to motivate young people, even those who have not been active for some time. There are cases in the US of previously inactive people getting out and walking for miles to try to increase their Pokémon stash. Of course, there is a concern about young people not paying enough attention to safety but I believe safety measures could be implemented. At present, Pokémon GO is only available in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Germany.

As I have stressed in the House on numerous occasions, ad nauseam, Ireland is on course to become one of the fattest nations in the world by 2030 and we should do everything we can to remedy this. As such, in the upcoming budget, the Government, of which my party is a member, should support video gaming companies to a greater degree when they come up with innovative ways to get people moving. This may sound funny, and I do not know an awful lot about video gaming myself as it was a friend of mine who brought this to my attention. Ireland is already very fertile ground for gaming and we make a lot of money from it. We speak about new politics. We should have innovative ways to deal with the problems we have. I hope the Government is quite forward thinking when it comes to something like this in the upcoming budget.