Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because a lot of the issues that I wanted to deal with have been referred to already. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to the House. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, for being here earlier and I also thank my party colleague, Senator Catherine Noone, the other members of the committee and the those who are involved in the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly for their work on this matter. This report was not produced overnight. There was quite a bit of work done on it.

Senator Higgins made reference to competitive sport. This is an issue that we must address because we are making every aspect of sport extremely competitive now and as a result, a lot of people who would benefit from sport are dropping out. We must focus on this. Every sporting organisation seems to be focused on competition and on winning. While that is important, we also need to remember that it is not just about winning. It is also about participation and that needs to be emphasised more.

One of the areas that I represented when I was on Cork City Council and where I still do some work is Knocknaheeny. The income levels of some of the people residing there would be quite low. It also has a number of problems with regard to education and health. One of the projects undertaken in recent years is called Young Knocknaheeny, which is modelled on the Young Ballymun project in Dublin. It is about involving parents in the whole education process. Part of the programme deals with healthy living. I remember listening to one mother who had three children. The older two very much relied on soft drinks and Tayto crisps. However, her third child was going through the Young Knocknaheeny programme and the mother herself learned a huge amount by participating in it.Her third child is focused on healthy eating, including vegetables and fruit. It simply goes to show that we can have all the education we like in schools but the major influencers are the parents. We should remember that children are only in school initially for three or four hours per day and then five hours when they get older. It is about working with parents.

This is also relevant for the issue of drinking and the need to work with parents at an early stage. It is interesting to look at the Dutch model. In the first four years of life, health service providers or advisers visit the family 19 times. Clearly, monitoring is undertaken. It is not about the nanny state; it is about giving advice and assistance. I would like to know the Irish comparison in this area. It is important to look at that as well. It is important that help and assistance is given to people with young families at the early stages. I do not believe we are doing enough in that area. While the project I referenced in Knocknaheeny has worked successfully, it is important that we continue with similar work in areas of low income.

My final comment relates to targets. Other speakers have referred to how in Ireland 26.6% of boys under 20 years of age are overweight. The figure in the Netherlands is 18.3%. Surely we should set targets to reduce these figures in the coming five years. That is something we should aim at.

I thank everyone who worked on this question. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House.