JOINT COMMITTEE ON ARTS, SPORT, TOURISM, COMMUNITY, RURAL AND GAELTACHT AFFAIRS díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 24 Mar 2010

Fitness and Well-Being: Discussion.

Chairman

Dr. Tony Holohan, chief medical officer, Department of Health and Children, has sent his apologies for being unable to attend today, as he is attending a meeting of a Cabinet sub-committee on health. In his correspondence dated 19 March 2010 he states, "I would, however, like to put on record that I am fully supportive, as Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health and Children, of the actions and initiatives which are being undertaken by the HSE and others to promote physical activity and active living."

I welcome the following: from the Health Service Executive, Dr. Patrick Doorley, national director for population health, and Ms Maria Lordan Dunphy, assistant national director, integrated services directorate; from the Irish Sports Council, Mr. John Treacy, chief executive; Mr. Paul McDermott, director of communications, and Ms Fiona Coyne, operations director; and from the National Transport Authority, Ms Finola O'Driscoll, executive transport planner; Mr. Evin McMahon, executive transport planner, and Mr. Gerry Murphy. I draw attention to the fact that while members of the joint committee have absolute privilege, the same does not apply to witnesses appearing before the committee. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses, or an official, by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

This is an issue of importance to the committee. In looking at our programme of work we have stressed the topics of fitness and well-being. The committee wishes to take a strong position and investigate what more can be done, which is why it has invited today's guests, all of whom are doing excellent work in this regard, to share with us their views on the subject of physical activity. I congratulate Senator Buttimer and Deputy O'Mahony, both of whom participated in the television programme "Operation Transformation" recently. They inform me that the programme achieved fantastic results, as is clear from their physical appearance.

As a Deputy with a background in primary teaching, I note from visits to my local school and other schools the success of the Walk on Wednesday campaign. The scheme is working extremely well. The use of pedometers to measure the distance of their walks creates great excitement among children. Perhaps more could be done in that area.

Following the reshuffle this week, we have a new Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Deputy Mary Hanafin, and a new Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan. Working with other Ministers, specifically the Minister for Health and Children, the new Ministers could work in a more co-ordinated fashion to promote activities such as walking and healthy exercise among young people. I thank everyone involved in this area for advancing the agenda of healthy lifestyles.

I note from a newspaper report this morning that Trinity College Dublin, as part of its health and sport week, has organised activities around the theme, Legacy for Life, with a view to encouraging healthy eating and fitness among students. Seachtain na Gaeilge, which comes under the joint committee's remit, featured the Rith festival, which involved second level students and others running around Ireland, starting in Belfast and finishing in Galway.

The joint committee has invited representatives of several organisations to come before us to assist in identifying ways in which we can help encourage healthy lifestyle trends and what can be done at national level to get the nation up and moving. This does not refer solely to competitive sporting activities but also to enjoyable physical activities such as walking, swimming and exercise. It is essential for young and old alike to become involved in these activities to maintain physical and mental health. We are anxious to hear the views of the delegation. Members will have questions and comments following the presentation. I invite the national director for population and health at the Health Service Executive, Dr. Patrick Doorley, to make his opening remarks.

Dr. Patrick Doorley

I will be as brief and concise as possible before handing over to Ms Maria Lordan Dunphy, the assistant national director of the HSE's integrated services directorate. The HSE is very interested in fitness and well-being and focuses on physical activity. This need not be at a level that is adequate to promote athletic fitness as there is significant benefit in any type of physical activity because it protects against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers and promotes general mental well-being. Conversely, sedentary lifestyles are a risk factor for all these common illnesses which pose a significant ill-health burden and financial cost on services.

The HSE aims to inform people about how they can keep well through physical activity and support them in adopting healthy choices. We work with a range of external agencies, including the sports partnerships and Departments, notably the Department of Health and Children. Our work takes different forms. Sometimes we promote physical activity focusing solely on the physical aspects of the activity, while in other areas, we do so as part of a more holistic programme of health promotion, for example, in schools, workplaces and other settings where people live and work.

On the benefits of physical activities, as many members will be aware, as part of their rehabilitation, people who have a heart attack are advised to start walking and work up to a distance of perhaps four miles per day. One may ask the reason they cannot walk four miles per day before they suffer a heart attack.

Ms Lordan Dunphy will speak briefly on the document we have prepared, which outlines a number of innovative projects including the GP exercise referral scheme, under which patients are referred by GPs to leisure centres or given a prescription for exercise, and the playground markings project to promote physical activity in school yards.

Ms Maria Lordan Dunphy

I thank the Chairman and joint committee for an opportunity to appear before them. I will first comment briefly on the levels of physical activity in Ireland and briefly flag what the Health Service Executive is doing to promote participation in physical activity at all levels. In terms of best practice, generally when we focus on physical activity we emphasise the importance of integrating nutrition and physical activity as this is the best approach. A multisectoral, inter-agency approach is required to promote physical activity at all levels.

Activity levels among Irish people are a matter of concern because one in five persons is inactive and approximately 45% of the population do not reach the recommended levels of physical activity for health. We are most concerned about the levels of activity in children. A survey carried out in 2006 showed that more than half of primary school children are not reaching the recommended daily levels of physical activity. The position worsens as children move into the teenage years, with nine of ten girls at age 15 years and seven out of ten boys not reaching the recommended levels. The figure for adults is one in five. While much has been done, we have a long road to travel.

At a strategic level, the HSE has been involved in a number of areas. A key recent initiative was the publication of national physical activity guidelines. Ireland did not have a set of guidelines for adults and children that clearly specified what levels of activity are required for health. The guidelines, which were published in 2009 in conjunction with the Department of Health and Children, have been widely disseminated. We are ahead of the United Kingdom in this respect as it is about to publish its national guidelines, while the United States and Australia have already developed national guidelines.

If required, we will circulate the document to members. While national guidelines are an important and useful tool for making progress in the area of physical activity, guidelines are not much good if they are left on a shelf. For this reason, we have established a comprehensive programme for communicating and rolling out the guidelines and providing training at all levels.

The health care system would benefit significantly if people were to become more active. An Australian study showed that if Australians were active for an additional 30 minutes per day, it would save €815 million in health care costs. Given that levels of inactivity are greater in Ireland than in Australia, the benefits of increased activity would be greater here. Many other studies also show the cost benefits of increased physical activity.

The Health Service Executive has introduced a number of programmes in schools, workplaces, communities and other sectors. I will be pleased to answer questions on our activities and provide more details for members.

Chairman

I invite Mr. John Treacy of the Irish Sports Council to make an opening statement.

Mr. John Treacy

I thank the joint committee for inviting me today to make this presentation and allowing me to describe the work of the Irish Sports Council on fitness and well-being through individual and community initiatives. I will endeavour to be brief and I will be pleased to elaborate on any point during the question and answer session.

I reinforce the message of my colleagues that a physically active community is a healthy community. It is well established through international research that regular participation in sport and physical activity conveys specific, positive health outcomes. These include higher life expectancy, improved mental health, protection from chronic disease, lower risk of cancer and reduced risk of heart disease.

Irish Sports Council research, carried out with the Economic and Social Research Council, found that "regular participation in sport is equivalent, in health terms, to being 14 years younger" and that "the health difference between someone with low past participation and someone with high past participation is equivalent to being three years younger". These are significant findings which should not be under estimated.

The Irish Sports Council was established in 1999 under statute with six areas of responsibility. In the past decade, the council has helped transform the structures of Irish sport and, in doing so, had a major impact on two key strategic areas, namely, increasing the number of people actively participating in sport and improving the standard of elite sport. For every euro invested by the Irish Sports Council in elite sport €3 is invested in increasing participation. That is to achieve a simple policy goal. The council seeks to get more people, more active, more often. Specific and ambitious targets have been set in the council's participation strategy for 2009 to 2020. The council has a multidimensional approach to increasing participation.

The following is an overview of the important elements that comprise a complete strategy. The code of ethics and good practice for children's sport in Ireland, an all-island approach to creating a safe environment for young people in sport is an essential ethical foundation for sport. The council supports the PE curriculum by providing the Buntús programme to every primary school. A total of 456,000 children have received Buntús generic and Buntús start programmes. Some 48% of the participants were girls. The 60 national governing bodies of sport are the essential infrastructure of Irish sport. While not every sport will make a major impact in terms of numbers, each has a valuable role within the Irish sports community. The council invests in development and supports the bodies with advice and practical support across all operational areas. The council works closely with the three major field sports bodies, the GAA, the FAI and the IRFU to provide participation programmes in every community in Ireland with an emphasis on young people. At a public event in Croke Park in June 2009 the three sporting bodies gave details of their work in participation with the council. The variety, quality and impact of the programmes is impressive and the impact of their work is felt in every parish.

The national trails office of the council is developing the trails network and creating new opportunities for outdoor recreation. Recreational walking remains the single most popular form of physical activity in the country. The Irish Sports Monitor states that 57% of the adult population walks for recreational purposes at least once a week. Coaching is recognised as critical to the advancement of sport at every level and in every aspect, including participation. The council has established Coaching Ireland as an all-island body charged with improving the standards of coaches and coaching. Between October 2007 and October 2009 Coaching Ireland trained 520 coach tutors. The impact of those tutors in expanding coaching capacity and expertise can be seen through their work within sports. In 2009 more than 1,000 courses across 60 sports saw approximately 10,000 coaches approved in partnership between Coaching Ireland and the national governing bodies of sport.

The council works in partnership with other statutory bodies such as the HSE, the Departments of Health and Children, Transport, Education and Science, Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the local authorities to deliver programmes that improve opportunities in sport for the entire population. We jointly fund a number of programmes with them. The council's research programme has a particular emphasis on investigating sports participation. It provides the evidence base for the development of sports policy through the research programme, notably in collaboration with the ESRI and the CSO. One element of our research that is worth highlighting is the collaboration between the ESRI and the council to develop the Irish Sports Monitor. To date, reports have been produced for 2007 and 2008 that directly compare adult participation in sport and physical activity. As the monitor progresses it will build up a wealth of new data on Irish sport and become an important resource for policy makers and practitioners in the area of sport.

The 2008 report revealed a significant drop of 2% in active participation in sport among adults, from 32.9% to 30.8%, equivalent to one in 16 participants in 2007 no longer participating in 2008. That drop in sports participation was somewhat offset by increases in physical activity associated with walking and cycling for transport. The evidence strongly suggests that the recession was behind the drop in active participation. The decline was concentrated among lower income households. The sharpest fall coincided with the steep drop in consumer spending that occurred in early 2008. The hardest hit activities were individual sports such as golf and exercise activities such as using the gym which tend to be more expensive. The monitor picked up a rise in participation among the unemployed and self employed towards the end of 2008 which suggests that those groups used additional free time to play sport. That said, the fall in participation fell disproportionately on young men of lower income with the consequent loss of health benefits.

I wish to highlight three areas on which we are working that are important for the committee. In 2005 the women in sport initiative was established to address the clear gender gap in sports participation with only 34% of women participating regularly compared to 52% of men. Sports are incentivised to increase participation and attract new women members. Many national governing bodies are developing programmes to specifically attract women to their sports. A total of €10 million was invested under those programmes from 2005 to 2009 with a further €1.9 million to be invested in 2010. We are seeing the impact of that work through the Irish Sports Monitor. While we have seen a fall in overall participation rates in sport the number of women playing team sports increased which shows that an impact is being made.

The Irish Sports Council allocates funding to five national governing bodies responsible for sport and people with a disability towards their core activity such as administration, coaching, and strategic planning. In addition, through funding provided by the dormant accounts fund, sports inclusion development officers, SIDOs, have been employed by local sports partnerships. Their specific remit is to engage with people who have a disability and bring them into the community of sport. The SIDO programme was under threat at the end of the year when the dormant accounts funding came to an end. I am happy to report that the Irish Sports Council has agreed a funding mechanism to ensure the continuation of 16 SIDOs in 2010. The SIDO programme commenced in late 2007 and within a year it was reported that approximately 4,500 new participants had engaged in sport and physical activity through that programme. They were people who had not been touched by sport. I have many examples of people who said that sport was outside what they did. Through knocking on doors people with physical disabilities were encouraged to get out. New clubs have been formed as a result. The programme has been hugely successful. I thank the members of the committee who supported that programme and lobbied for it.

The 2008Irish Sports Monitor revealed that the recession has led to an increase in impact of the socio-economic status of participation in sport. Those in lower income categories became less likely to play sport than those in higher income categories and, similarly, are even less likely to be members of sports clubs. The sports partnerships are commencing the roll-out of a programme entitled Linked2B Active to begin addressing the issue. We launched that programme in Tallaght last year. It targets unemployed people to get them into gyms and to ensure they are active. That programme is being rolled out across the country.

On the local sports partnership initiative which lies at the heart of the Irish Sports Council's participation strategy, the key tasks are about developing plans for long-term sports development, the establishment of programmes and training for volunteers and delivering programmes for target groups including older people, younger people, children entering transition year, disadvantaged communities and women and girls. Although local sports partnerships are a relatively new concept in sport they are now firmly embedded in the sporting infrastructure of clubs and communities establishing, providing and supporting increased opportunities for everyone to participate in a wider range of activities, thus creating a more active lifestyle. The partnerships report on those activities annually through a SPEAK report. Some of the highlights for 2008 are that approximately 70,000 people participated in 430 locally delivered participation programmes. In addition, approximately 8,000 females participated in more than 100 local women in sport programmes at local level through the local sports partnerships. Those are probably women who did not participate previously. Some 9,500 people participated in a range of locally planned and delivered training programmes, including code-of-ethics training programmes and programmes for training and supporting local volunteers. Some 2,800 primary school teachers in 289 schools received Buntús generic training, thus empowering them to deliverer the Buntús programme in the schools. Some 3,500 participants completed 250 code-of-ethics courses. The An Post cycling series was delivered by the six partnerships in collaboration with Cycling Ireland. In 2009, more than 5,500 people took part in and trained for the events throughout the year. This was significant.

These figures provide a flavour of the activities that comprise the daily work of the partnerships. I try to visit the partnerships each year if I can. It is a source of pride to hear endorsements of the partnerships with local councillors, county and city managers, educationalists, community groups and individuals. The professionals working in the partnerships work to a high standard and the value of their contribution becomes more apparent over time.

The Sporting Lives research report highlights the fact that younger Irish adults are playing much more sport than older adults did at their age and that they are, therefore, likely to play much more sport as they grow older. The council is ambitious with regard to increasing participation in sport. It wants to see an Ireland that ranks among the best countries in the world. It is a long-term project but we are confident, based on the elements I have set out, that real progress is being made.

Chairman

I thank Mr. Treacy. I ask Mr. Gerry Murphy and Ms Finola O'Driscoll to make a brief presentation, after which we will ask questions.

Mr. Gerry Murphy

Ms O'Driscoll will make a presentation on our work on promoting sustainable transport and travel choices. Ours is a newly established authority and appeared before the Joint Committee on Transport to outline its full remit. Today we will focus only on sustainable transport choices. If members have any questions after this meeting or if we can assist them, our door will be open. They may telephone us or meet us for any information we can give them.

Ms Finola O’Driscoll

I thank the committee for the invitation. I will give a brief overview of three programmes in which we are involved to promote sustainable and, by extension, active travel. My presentation is entitled Smarter Travel Initiatives. Rather than focusing only on the supply of transport infrastructure, the initiatives consider the demand for travel and its management to make the best use of the existing infrastructure and optimise the value of any new transport expenditure.

Schools and work generate most travel. Our third programme considers the communities and neighbourhoods from which the trips originate. We examine schools, workplaces and communities because these are where people interact and learn behaviour and where they can be influenced thereby.

Managing the demand for travel is a key part of the National Transport Authority's functions. This sits alongside capital investment and public transport infrastructure and is a critical part of delivering a sustainable and efficient transport system.

While we will refer to active travel, it must be stated that a 10% reduction in the number of cars travelling to work or schools, which the programmes have been shown to achieve, would be equivalent to the number of passengers carried by the DART, Luas and suburban rail. I refer to a very cost-effective transport measure.

The graph on school travel I have circulated is somewhat disconcerting. It shows car trips to schools from 1996 to 2006 increased from approximately 28% to more than 40%. There was a corresponding decrease in cycling and walking. The increase in car use was not commensurate with an increase in the distances to be travelled to school. There is, therefore, potential to reverse the trend. A significant number of car trips to primary and secondary schools are very short. Almost counter-intuitively, 60% of parents or guardians who drop their children to school by car do not travel onwards to work. The trips are discretionary.

The Department of Transport, through the National Transport Authority, has been working with the Green Flag programme to support a school travel module. Members will all be aware of the programme and will have seen the flags flying in schools. The programme is extremely popular in Ireland. Some 90% of schools have signed up. It is the UN exemplar programme in that we are the best in the world at this.

Some of the actions undertaken by schools include the Walk on Wednesday and Cycle on Wednesday initiatives and Park 'n' Stride, whereby parents park at a local carpark and walk for 15 minutes to the school gate to ease congestion in the school's vicinity. The Walking Bus initiative, car sharing and public transport are also promoted.

The success of the schools programme is based on local ownership. School communities, including pupils supported by their teachers and parents, decide together what actions are appropriate for them. The programme is as successful in rural areas as it is in urban areas. It has been enormously successful.

A 2009 survey on Green-Schools travel covered more than 40,000 pupils and the results, therefore, are extremely robust. There was a 22% decrease in car use, a 43% increase in walking and a 6% increase in cycling where training and cycle parking are provided.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

Are those figures for primary and secondary schools or both?

Ms Finola O’Driscoll

Both.

The slide on the Green-Schools travel programme results quotes a school principal in Castleblayney who stated, "That's the first bike at this school in 25 years." This demonstrates the cultural change or reversal that can occur.

The travel programme is a national programme and has national representation. It has been running for several years and since it is linked to the very popular Green-Schools programme, it will continue. Some 450 schools were in the programme in 2009. By 2012, this will have increased to more than 1,200 and some 265,000 pupils will be involved. This represents more than one quarter of the schools in the country. If the programme is still funded by the end of the decade, almost all schools will have a school travel plan.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

Will one quarter of schools be involved in 2012?

Ms Finola O’Driscoll

Yes. That is not just an estimate; the figure is based on the number of schools already in the programme.

We have worked over the past two and half years with some of the largest workplaces in the State to help them to deliver workplace travel plans that support their staff to use active or sustainable travel, both for commuting and business travel. The organisations with which we work are in public and private sectors and can be seen in the slide I have provided. I used to use the term "blue chip companies" but I am not sure whether the term still applies. Nevertheless, we are delighted to work with them.

At present, we work with 51 of the largest employers in the State and cover about 65,000 people. Preliminary results have shown an 18% decrease in car use. We are ahead of schedule regarding the target in our three-year plan, which is to work with 100 of the largest workplaces in the State. We should cover approximately 14% of the national workforce by 2012.

I will concentrate on the actions that promote active travel. These include video conferencing, working from home, fleet reviews and car-sharing initiatives. The Mater hospital, for example, increased bicycle use by 76% and there has been a 16% reduction in car use, so much so that the hospital was able to dispense with 50 car-parking spaces it leased off-site, thus saving the HSE €125,000 per annum. Two hundred bicycles were sold under the very popular cycle-to-work scheme and there was an increase in the use of public transport and car sharing.

The ESB has really taken on board the cycling remit and has generated a cycling ethos in the company. It has 7,000 employees nationwide and has fleet bikes at nine of its locations, including Moneypoint and Loughrea. It heavily promotes the cycle to work scheme and offers monthly tax saver tickets to its employees to use public transport during the winter months and engage in active travel for the summer months. The Dublin Airport Authority also has fleet bicycles, promotes the cycle to work scheme and has seen a 60% decrease in car usage among staff. Eircom installed new lockers, showers and drying rooms for staff at its new headquarters at Heuston Station. There has been a 30% decrease in the use of staff parking facilities following its relocation there.

Aside from the individual site-base work, the authority also offers inter-company events. Last year we ran the pedometer challenge in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation which attracted over 3,500 participants in over 30 companies. There was an 87% increase in activity levels and a 16% increase in the number walking to work in these companies. According to the American Medical Association, the pedometer is the number one intervention in increasing activity levels. Last Monday the authority started a cycle challenge among those involved in the smarter travel workplaces scheme under which 300 people in 20 companies have signed up to log their cycle journeys to work.

In the new development in Adamstown, west Dublin, we ran a pilot project as part of which 300 households were given door-to-door travel advice which included maps for their local health services, parks and amenities, transport services and cycle routes. Already it has been enormously successful with a 60% increase in the use of sustainable travel modes such as walking and cycling and a reduction in car usage.

Although the authority has a transport remit, travel demand management measures such as these travel plans are important in delivering a holistic system. It works on an environmental and economic basis, with strong social benefits from increases in activity levels, health benefits, accessibility and community-building.

Chairman

I thank the delegations for their excellent presentations. The purpose of the meeting is to find out what the agencies are doing and to see how the committee can add value to their work. This issue crosses various departmental remits such as health, education, sport, etc. I get the sense that we can all help to ratchet up fitness activities by bringing various Ministers and Departments to work together more.

Ms O'Driscoll has set certain targets for pedometer usage by 2012. Is there more we can do for young people and pedometer usage? If we can start getting people into fitness habits at schoolgoing age, we will be winning. It is unsatisfactory that one in five adults is physically inactive. This needs to be tackled, particularly considering its impact on the health of the nation and the health services bill.

How does Ireland compare to other countries? One hears various reports on what Scandinavian countries are doing to improve people's fitness and well-being and they seem to be ahead of the posse. Will the delegations give the committee any up-to-date data they have?

As Dr. Doorley said, we must get people to walk before they have a heart attack. The committee will do what it can to help raise awareness of and improve the many fitness activities programmes available.

Deputy John O’Mahony

I thank the various groups which have made thought provoking presentations. This is an important issue. Mr. Treacy has been before the committee before to discuss high performance sports. Winning gold medals at the Olympic Games helps to lift the nation's morale; fitness and well-being activities for the masses help the nation's health.

The Celtic tiger was a disaster for the health of the nation in some respects. For example, Ms O'Driscoll highlighted the increase in the number of children being dropped to school by car. All of us were guilty of this during the Celtic tiger years rather than providing a healthier transport mode. With both partners often working, children were given money to buy their lunches, usually from vending machines in schools which doled out unhealthy foods. In the recession the health of the nation is suffering.

Mr. Treacy mentioned the Buntús generic programme for primary schools. However, in secondary school many extra curricular sports and fitness activities have been affected by the recent cutbacks. Teachers are also not as free to get involved in such activities, with the emphasis on academic performance and the points system.

That nine out of ten girls and seven out of ten boys do not reach the recommended daily level of physical activity is worrying. The Government needs to drive this if it wants to get the nation healthier. The figures for Australia in this regard are interesting. For some time I have argued that promoting health and fitness regimes will not cost money but save money in the long term.

This issue crosses various departmental remits such as health, education and sport. From being involved in the sports world and the replies to parliamentary questions I have asked of various Ministers, I know there needs to be more co-operation between the Departments of Health and Children, Education and Science and Arts, Sport and Tourism to tackle young people's physical well-being. Mr. Treacy mentioned he was chairman of the national task force on obesity.

Mr. John Treacy

I was, yes.

Mr. John O’Mahony

The reality is that many of those recommendations have not been implemented in schools throughout the country. That is the sad reality, the recommendations are there, but they are not being implemented.

The sports partnerships have been mentioned and on a practical level these are wonderful as regards getting people active in the context of what we are talking about today. This is broadly true all over the country and the one we have in Mayo is a wonderful example. I have two questions in that regard. Have they been launched everywhere throughout the country and are they up and running at the moment?

Mr. John Treacy

Yes, they are.

Deputy John O’Mahony

Mr. Treacy mentioned that the funding was withdrawn from the dormant accounts as regards the sports inclusion officers, and the Irish Sports Council was now providing the funding. My information is that funding by the council is not at the same level as what had originally been in place. We talk about saving money by having a healthier nation, and I merely point out that this is, perhaps, an example of us robbing Peter to pay Paul and eventually cutting off our nose to spite our face.

I shall finish by recommending that if this committee can do anything about getting co-operation between the three Departments, that would be a job well done, as an outcome from this discussion.

Chairman

I concur with all the points made by the Deputy, and the last one in particular, as regards the role of committees in pushing matters forward. This is an all-party committee open to ideas, and we try to support good activities on the ground. Equally, I agree with Deputy O'Mahony, especially with regard to the timing and advent of the new ministerial portfolios, that the committee is in a position to help develop activity in this area. I believe we can do that, since I know of the cross-party commitment among members here.

Deputy John O’Mahony

I agree with the Chairman that Mr. Treacy must feel 14 years younger after going through a transformation or if not, ten at least.

Chairman

He certainly looks it and I did not recognise him. I strongly recommend what these gentlemen have done, and perhaps we should have more of these operation transformations. I call on Deputy Mary Upton, to be followed by Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú.

Deputy Mary Upton

I thank all the groups for their presentations which were very interesting. I should like to pick up on some of the key points raised by Deputy O'Mahony, particularly with regard to the task force on obesity, about which I just want to make a general comment. It is a very good document, comprehensive and detailed, with some 93 recommendations. By 2008 about 19 of those had been implemented, or thereabouts. Further to that we had the report of the inter-sectoral group on the implementation of the recommendations of the national taskforce on obesity. How many documents do we need? We are obsessed with committees, documents and recommendation when what we really need is implementation.

I am not blaming anybody in the delegation for any of this but we very much need joined-up effort on the key proposals to ensure they are implemented, rather than producing more detailed documents. They are wonderful reading and I have found them very interesting and very detailed. The recommendations are valuable but how much talking do we need to do around them? We need to act upon them. Some of them are medium-term while others are long-term, but the more urgent ones could, perhaps, be put in place at a relatively small cost. In general, the country, historically, has been more concerned about illness than health promotion. I should like to see much greater emphasis on health promotion, which really goes to the key point that has been made about cost in the longer term. Everybody has made the point that if the emphasis is put on prevention, then in the longer term the cost to the State will be much less.

Is there any country we might identify as an example of best practice in terms of health promotion? Tagged on to this we need to know what the upfront cost will be and the long-term gain. If we can look at those values it would be very useful, perhaps, in defining where we are going as regards the future with all of this, rather than merely consulting various documents and discovering that certain things had not been implemented. Let us identify what is best practice elsewhere in the world and use that as our reference point.

The point about referrals to the GP is a very valuable initiative. Would that be possible for medical card holders? Also, when a person goes along to the gym or whatever, is there a cost associated with that? Mr. Treacy, in particular, has mentioned that members of lower socio-economic groups are less likely to participate and unlikely to buy into the gym recommendation if there is a cost attached. If we are serious about this, it must be viable, and presented in such a way that the costs are not prohibitive for those people who need to avail of it most. That is most important.

The HSE people might be able to say how much training a GP receives in the area of health promotion in general relative to other aspects of his or her medical induction programmes. How important is it in the doctor training process and how much emphasis is put on it? There are some very good initiatives on offer at the moment, and I am involved in one of them, Slí na Sláinte. This is straightforward and a relatively easy one to put in place. There is some interaction involved between the local authorities, the Irish Heart Foundation and the HSE. It is something that could easily be done and there is great local involvement in it. Most importantly, local people believe they have ownership of the initiative, to an extent, and for that reason are much more likely to promote it and get involved in it. Again, a pair of walking shoes is basically all that is required from the viewpoint of participation.

Facilities such as green gyms – comprising little exercise machines, some of which are to be found along the seafront in Clontarf, I believe, as well as in the various parks – do not cost an enormous amount. I know this is a matter, primarily, for local authorities, but it should and could be encouraged, because once again, people are out in the open and it is free. It is a matter of walking by and making use of the green gym. It is a question of making people aware of them and promoting those types of initiatives, which are not very costly, but could be interesting. Children, for example, at least the older ones who might be too big for a playground, would be very interested in participating in green gym-type activities if they were more readily available.

In terms of planning, it is very important that there should be interaction between the various groups that have responsibility, say, for this overall area, to co-ordinate their interests with those of the planning authorities. We cannot change things that have happened, historically, perhaps, because they may be fixtures but there should be plans for local authorities to provide sufficient green space within new developments, for example, to make life easier and have relatively cheap facilities available to the public in any local area.

A couple of years ago I did some work on food poverty, which was part of my professional remit in the food safety and nutritional area – from the viewpoint of obesity and nutrition. I focused on the need for the availability of shops with good quality food in certain local authority areas, and the lack of such facilities. I have in mind certain areas I know about where there might be one corner shop around which everything revolved, and of course the costs, accordingly, were driven up because of the lack of competition in the area. Again, this is a matter for the planners. I appreciate there are no planners here today, but this is something that is worth raising with them in terms of ensuring that this type of facility and service is actually put in place.

With regard to the schools programme, I am intrigued that so many children are not walking to school. The point about parents who do not actually go on to work after they have dropped their children off is highly significant. However, a number of safety issues have to be taken into consideration as well. Cycling to school is something of a challenge in Dublin although, perhaps, in the country life might be more flexible. There is an issue with the safety of dropping off children at schools, and perhaps that is something for the NTA to examine. The parents will not only bring their child to school, but if one stands near the edge of the pavement, the car could be parked on one's toe. Parents want to drive up to the front door. I think Ms Coyle said that having some kind of car parking facility near the school so people can walk some of the way would be a good initiative. People have to engage with the local planning authority on these issues.

The local sports partnerships have been very effective. They have done great work in many local authority areas where there are facilities, service and supports available and I would encourage putting more money into it. We are all very pleased when our best athletes are flying the flag for Ireland, but not everybody is capable of being a top athlete and yet still needs quality exercise and quality facilities. We must balance those needs when managing a limited budget. However, it is very important that we support those who like to just participate in sport.

Deputy Michael Ring

Deputy Upton is right. I am sick and tired of reading report after report from different quangos telling us the same thing. We now want action. I am tired of jobs for the boys and the girls, because that has gone on too long in this country. I do not know why we need to be having sports officers and other officers at enormous cost to the taxpayer, when all they are doing is telling us what we have to do. We want action on what should be done.

Very simple things can be done. The green flag was a very simple idea that worked very well. We had another scheme with former and current county managers travelling around the country for a better villages scheme. The jobs for the boys culture has to stop because we want action. There is a competition on smarter travel in Westport, and I would like the witnesses to tell us what that initiative is about. I hope it will be spread around the country. We have recently opened wonderful walks on the railway line. We did not need reports or officers, and we did not need to employ people on the county council to tell us about it. We did it and it is working. There are hundreds of people of using that facility every evening. I hope that when the awards are given out for smarter travel, they will not be all orientated towards the city and will examine the rural areas. If we get the money, we will spend it wisely. We set up a cycle track from Westport to Murrisk and we did not need an officer, a manager, or an official from the Department. We did it ourselves and we got people out.

Deputy Upton is right. We will not have enough offices in Ireland for all the reports to be done if we do not stop commissioning them. Let us have a bit of action now. Sport is a great thing in which to get people involved. The Chairman has spoken about new Ministers. There might be new faces and new positions, but we need new ideas. Everything in this country is about educating people in the schools, but the school managers, teachers and principals are not able to do what they have to do when everything is thrown at them and they do not get the resources. If we want to get to children, compulsory sport should be introduced for an hour a week. Whether it is walking, football, or hurling, there should be something for each child but it should be compulsory. People say that things do not work when they are compulsory, but I think they would work in this instance and doing a bit of exercise would get children more involved.

I went to a school the other day and it was great to watch the children doing their exercises in the school yard. They were doing a lot more than what has been proposed in all these reports. The teacher had them playing football in one corner, while he had the girls in another corner doing something else. It was one person doing a job on behalf of the State, and I was proud to see it happening. It was a very cold morning, but the children loved to be out in the fresh air.

I am not the best example of what sport can do for a person, and I might have a problem with the amount of weight lost by Deputy O'Mahony, but I still have great energy.

Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú

Tá fáilte romhaibh i dtosach. Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht na faisnéise a chur sibh ar fáil dúinn anseo inniu. Caithfidh mé a rá go pearsanta gur chabhraigh sé go mór liom tuiscint níos fearr a bheith agam ar an obair atá idir lámha agaibh.

I welcome the witnesses and I thank them for their presentations. Many people would be agreeably surprised with some of the statistics that we heard today from the Irish Sports Council and from the smarter travel initiatives. It is important to get that information out to the public. Have the witnesses ever considered a showcase like those we see in the RDS such as the Young Scientist Exhibition, the Craft Council exhibitions and so on? There are many people involved in health and fitness, and the smarter travel initiative highlighted that. The schools have become a big part of the Young Scientist Exhibition. We have been told that there are now 1,158 schools involved in the schools programme, involving over 250,000 students. We should build on it, and one way to do that is to publicise it and let the schools indicate what it has meant to them.

When I was looking at the names mentioned under the smart travel in the workplace programme, I did not see the Dáil or Seanad feature. Is that a bad mark against us? There are major firms involved and there has been an exceptionally good response to the programme. If we go down the showcase road and put up the stalls like we do in other areas, that gives them an opportunity to put forward what they have achieved.

Taking Mr. Treacy's fine report as an example, it is only when we look at all the organisations involved in sport at the moment that we realise how much activity is going on. I do not know if any opportunity has been provided to them to come along and show off their wares at one single showcase.

We are depending on reality television at the moment in respect of health and fitness. "Operation Transformation" is one such example and I presume Mr. Treacy is entitled to have "OT" after his name at this stage. It is on the menus. There is a difficulty with this kind of television programme. They are focused reasonably narrowly but I think of this in a much broader way. People would be surprised at the interest there might be if we were to go down the showcase route, although that does not mean we could not consider, for example, television coverage for that.

Two areas that have disappeared off the radar from time to time are the issues of alcohol and smoking. Every so often, when we have some anti-social behaviour in a city, it tends to come into the media and into the Houses of the Oireachtas but it then tends to disappear. This is one of the most serious issues in regard to health and fitness. It is ironic and certainly contradictory to find sports people or a team that have done exceptionally well in their own area but, when it comes to celebrating, alcohol is very much centre stage. I am not talking about the normal consumption of alcohol from a social point of view but about excessive consumption. I have experienced and witnessed this personally. I always thought it was a contradiction that on the one hand, we want to reach a particular achievement and state of fitness and, on the other, we do the opposite to that in the manifestation of our success.

There have been improvements with regard to smoking. One of the most radical things that happened, which people said could not happen, was a ban on smoking in certain public areas. There is no doubt this has worked. However, while I have no statistics for this, it seems more young women are smoking today than in the past. I am told this is very often connected with the concept of slimming and, if there is a connection between the two, it should be examined. I have heard this said by smokers and it is a very serious indictment if that situation exists at present. This issue needs to be considered because we can do a lot of the other good work we have done but it can be undermined in this way.

A number of groups are represented here today and some of them are umbrella bodies, which is good. Given the nature of their membership there should be some way of having a national forum on the issues we are discussing. Obesity arises in many countries, not just in Ireland and there is clearly a link with lifestyle and the type of foods we consume. I found the statistics on the schools particularly interesting. I always associated the issue with children being brought to school at a certain hour and the parents continuing on to work. it is interesting that 60% of the parents do not continue on to the workplace. Have we been basing some of our policies on wrong assumptions? Again, we need to revisit this area because we have heard a lot of data and statistics today and these should be brought centre stage before we advance any more policies in this regard.

I compliment everybody involved. I will repeat some of my questions. Did we ever consider a major conference cum showcase involving all the partners at local and national level? Given the success the groups have had on the schools programme, in what way can this be extended? Do they find there is co-operation from schools management, teachers and so on? Are there obstacles to others becoming part of this? Deputy Upton made a good point regarding the dangers of cycling in built-up areas. If we could segregate that, it would be helpful to know why more schools do not get involved. There are other issues apart from cycling, including the question of security and safety for children walking. Perhaps we could tease those out on some future occasion, if not today.

To return to my comments on alcohol and smoking, I am convinced we should now go all the way with regard to alcohol. We should ban advertising and also give definite health warnings in regard to alcohol because it is a drug. We bemoan how seriously the drug culture has taken over when alcohol is an introductory drug. While I am not suggesting there is anything at all wrong with alcohol in a social context, each of the witnesses present knows there is a serious problem with underage drinking, to give one example. We glamorise drinking in the same we glamorised smoking in the past — there was always a cigarette in the films. One need only take the soap operas as an example. On every single soap opera on television at present, one of the main locations is a pub. It is very difficult for this not to influence young people if they see it as the normal culture. To make people conscious of this in the context of advertising and of glamorisation is the only way we can hope to do something about it.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

Cuirim fáilte roimh na h-oifigí. I thank the officers for their presentation. Like Deputy O'Mahony, I make the point that we are focused today on the health of the nation. I commend all of the groups present for their work and initiatives on the whole issue of health promotion. At a time when the HSE is a maligned entity, it is important that we pay tribute to the health promotion unit of the HSE, which is very successful. This should be put on public record at a time when the HSE gets much criticism. I am a big fan of the HSE's health promotion unit, which does much good work and should be given greater priority by the Department of Health and Children and its Minister.

I am particularly concerned by the comments made by Mr. John Treacy in his presentation. I want the HSE and sports council officials to consider and come back to us on the concern that there seems to be a decline in participation of people from lower income groups, which is worrying trend. In the Seanad yesterday, I put an Adjournment matter before the Minister for Health and Children on the issue of obesity. To give some statistics, almost 40% of the population are overweight and 18% are obese. What is worrying is that, despite all the good work being done, Ireland has the fourth highest prevalence of obesity among adult males in Europe.

I join Senator Ó Murchú in asking whether consideration is being given to having what I would term a health promotion expo in the four provinces of the country. I fully subscribe to involvement in the local sports partnerships and the employment of sports development officers. Through active participation in local sports partnership programmes, as Mr. Treacy rightly said, a number of people who are not currently touched by sport will become active.

Like Deputy O'Mahony, I wish to focus on the cutting of funding. Whether we like it, funding is a central tenet of our ability to reduce obesity or increase participation. If the sports funding is cut for the HSE health promotion unit or the Irish Sports Council, how do we combat and overcome this? It is one thing to say we will ban vending machines in schools, which is a good idea, and another to say, as the health promotion unit has suggested, that a health option will be provided at lunch breaks in schools. If the Oireachtas can have an "Operation Transformation" menu option for members of staff and politicians, surely our schools can do so as well. Have we done this?

I ask the HSE officials whether we have given thought to the employment of an obesity tsar. Last week, the Government announced Gabriel Byrne as the cultural ambassador for Ireland. I throw out the suggestion that perhaps the HSE, with the Department of Health and Children, could have an obesity tsar, such as Mr. Gerry Ryan.

I read this week in a number of newspapers that the musician, Ronan Keating, has been involved in a major health drive. It has been noted how our sports people are doing their ambassadorial work and are giving the nation a great glow. However, regardless of whether one liked it, "Operation Transformation" was an overwhelming success with close to 600,000 viewers and more than 3.5 million hits on its website. This underlines the existence of an issue with obesity and weight reduction and it is time for a well-known figure to become the man or woman to drive the nation in tackling this issue. I do not discern why this could not be done. In the context of the comments made by Deputies Upton and Ring regarding reports, while loads of reports exist, measures must be taken to address the lack of physical activity. However, who will be responsible for doing so and who will be its major driver?

My final comment is directed towards Ms Finola O'Driscoll and pertains to the initiative by the National Transport Authority. It is a great idea that I fully support. However, I have one major difficulty with it. For example, when green routes and bicycle routes are unveiled in Cork city or elsewhere, they start at point A and finish at point B, which could be 100 yards or half a mile distant. Thereafter, such a route runs into a cul-de-sac and gets bottled up in traffic. As a former teacher, I can understand the comments of the principal from Castleblayney because that graph is clear and a decline undoubtedly has taken place in walking and cycling rates. I was stunned when Ms O'Driscoll stated that 60% of those who dropped off their children did not travel on to work as I had thought this was the case. How, given the weight of schoolbags, the lack of safety on roads and the lack of care and due notice given to pedestrians and cyclists by motorists, can such a level of either walking or cycling to school be promoted? The National Transport Authority's programme constitutes a major asset in respect of the issue of fitness and well-being.

Deputy Jack Wall

I welcome the delegations and apologise for my lateness as I unfortunately was held up at another meeting. Today's meeting pertains to future generations and can be considered under a number of different headings. In respect of the HSE, underage drinking and smoking are huge problems that I encounter on a regular basis. Only last night, I was brought by a number of people to an area in which groups were gathering for underage drinking. While underage drinking in itself may not be as dangerous as one might consider it to be, the follow-on is that it constitutes a gateway to all the other problems. It only needs one person within such a group to suggest experimentation and they will move onto the next stage. When this happens, all the dangers associated with drug abuse and everything else suddenly come on the scene.

The single tool available to hurt the drug barons and improve the situation in this regard is to educate young people in schools, sports clubs, recreation centres or wherever. One must disseminate information on the damage done by drinking because it acts as the gateway to drugs use at a later stage and causes issues regarding head shops and everything else that goes with it. The one thing that can be done to prevent this is to educate the youngsters at the early stages. Moreover, I emphasise that one cannot be strong enough with such education. It has been observed repeatedly that people cringe when they see some of the accidents portrayed in television advertisements regarding drink-driving. I have seen people turn away when such advertisements are broadcast. There is a need for similar advertisements portraying those unfortunate people who have fallen into the drug net and whose lives, bodies and minds have been destroyed. Moreover, their families also have been destroyed because of the problems this creates for themselves and for their localities.

Were such measures taken, one would move on to asking what are the alternatives. Being committed to sport, I believe the alternative is fitness and involvement with sports organisations. Mr. John Treacy is in attendance today and sports partnerships are under discussion. One cannot say enough about the effort, time and dedication put in by such partnerships in their own particular localities or about the benefits this has brought to communities. However, I am also critical of the national sports organisations and question whether they do enough. When I consider some of the major estates in my constituency, I question whether the major associations do enough in this regard. I believe they engage in cherry-picking in respect of good players who are taken out of the system and are given opportunities. However, I refer to all those who are left behind for whom the lack of effort to provide for them means that boredom sets in.

In part, this goes back to a lack of facilities and clubs will state they only have facilities for X amount. However, schools with wonderful facilities such as gymnasiums, playing pitches and everything else are closed up for practically all the summer, at weekends and so on. Members never appear to be able to address the issue of how one can get around the obvious problem relating to insurance. The question is how can one facilitate the use of so many facilities. Although one repeatedly hears Oireachtas Members of all parties praising the wonderful facilities that have been opened, at the same time they remain closed for more than half a year. This is a joke when one thinks about all the schools that sports partnerships could use and from which they could benefit. While this could increase the numbers participating in sport, the sports partnerships are prevented from so doing because of insurance issues. Although Members have it in their hands to resolve this issue, they do not appear to have the will to so do. The joint committee should invite the new Minister for Education and Science to appear before it and should put it to her that these facilities must be used. This pertains to the future, albeit not that of members for whom the train has passed, but that of the next generation. Although the ways and means to do something for them exist, it is not being done. We simply close the door at 3 p.m. on every weekday evening, as well as for the summer months, during which time those facilities are not being used. This is crazy.

Similar issues arise in respect of transport. During summer mornings, I can pass from one end of my home town to another without difficulty. However, once the schools return, it takes me half to three quarters of an hour to travel to the other side of town because the children who are going to school at that time will not walk and their parents bring them. It is the same at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. when one simply cannot get through easily. Consequently, the children themselves get no exercise. In the present environments, parents may state that they are not prepared to allow their kids to walk to school because there are problems associated with so doing. However, mechanisms are in place pertaining to school walking schemes and so on that can and should be addressed. Efforts should also be made in this regard.

This is a lively topic to which members should return. The sports partnerships certainly would benefit from the use of schools and the joint committee should try to do something in this regard. The HSE should widen the scope regarding drinking, smoking etc. I hope the transport initiative will lead to more people thinking positively regarding travelling to school and the potential benefits to the environment and everything else arising from a reduction in car traffic. I am delighted by the witnesses' attendance and presentations and I hope people will take note of the positive measures contained therein.

Senator Paschal Mooney

I apologise, as I needed to attend other meetings, but I endorse everything that has been stated. I have a specific question for Mr. Treacy concerning the sports partnerships. He was recently in my home county, Leitrim, to set up such a partnership. Although this has nothing to do with him, I am bitterly disappointed that the area has been taken away from the VEC sector and given to the local authorities. The VEC sector was doing an excellent job. I was chairman of the sports advisory committee, which preceded the sports partnerships for many years, and it is in this context that I am speaking.

County Leitrim is receiving an allocation of €10,000, but there have been more than 40 applications. If the money is to be allocated on the basis of precedent, the princely sum of €250 will be given to each organisation, assuming they are all eligible. On Monday, I raised this question at a county development board meeting because local representatives sit on it and the local council is overseeing the board. I understand the criteria will change this year. Perhaps Mr. Treacy will elaborate on how this sum of money, paltry even in the present climate, will be distributed. Given all of the talk and positivity about trying to get the nation to lose weight and to get young people up and walking, it is a paltry sum. While it is to be welcomed in the current climate, it will have no impact whatsoever if it is spread around as thinly as it used to be.

What measures are being taken to ensure this small pool of money will be wisely distributed? What criteria will be used? Will it be a top-down approach in which the Irish Sports Council directs sports partnerships or will they be given latitude in distributing the money?

Chairman

I thank all my colleagues for their contributions, questions, comments etc. As our visitors can see, there is significant interest in this subject. Many of us consider ourselves passionate about it. The bottom line is that we want to make a difference.

We have heard from our visitors and would like to hear their responses, so I will make one or two quick points to try to sum up some of the views expressed by my colleagues. When we were determining our annual agenda, I included this matter and was supported by the committee on the basis that it is an important issue for citizens, from the young to the not-so-young. As we heard from our visitors, much that is important is occurring in schools, workplaces and communities. As Deputy O'Mahony suggested, I will put a suggestion to the committee at the end of our meeting on determining whether we might be able to advance that work in some way.

One of the questions touched on best practice and where it could be found in Europe and elsewhere in respect of physical activity, its promotion in schools, fitness etc. Senator Buttimer discussed an ambassador to address obesity. It is not a bad idea, but perhaps we could call it an ambassador to promote fitness.

It is important that the Departments' approaches be co-ordinated. Deputies Hanafin and Coughlan have entered into new Ministries and, as far as I am concerned, they are committed. Indeed, many other colleagues are committed. I am trying not to be partisan. It is a good time for us to meet on this subject. At the end of this meeting, I will draw up a motion to seek a co-ordinated approach.

I agree that it is a time for action and to finish all of our reports. We have had so many reports that members have expressed their frustration with the amount of paperwork. Valuable and all as those reports have been over the years, we know what needs to be done. We need to increase activity to ensure we deal with the health of the nation and of younger people in particular. Is there any potential for greater incentives at primary school level? Ms O'Driscoll mentioned the idea of competition. Competition between schools and classes can be healthy. As a former teacher, I know that such activity must be carefully supervised, since it can get out of control if it is not handled properly. Some colleagues mentioned the question of safety in respect of cycling to school, but such issues can be dealt with through proper planning.

I will draft a motion on behalf of the committee to try to capture what has been stated. It will seek major co-operation between various Ministries. I will suggest it now and run it by my colleagues. For example, we could ask the Ministers for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Education and Science and Health and Children to co-operate in promoting a more proactive regime of physical activity, particularly walking, for children and adults in our schools, workplaces and communities. This motion would capture what the committee wants, namely, greater activity. We do not want any turf wars and I appreciate that none of our guests would be involved in such, but the last thing we need is people to adopt the approach that something is their area or ministry. Given today's statements, the co-operation between the delegates' organisations is encouraging.

It is the committee's duty to ask the Ministers to ensure a ratcheting up of activity. In the context of the appointment of two new Ministers, this was a good time to hold our meeting. I have made my suggestion early, as I also wanted to park it with our guests. They should feel free to comment on it.

Deputy Mary Upton

Could we consider local government and transport as well?

Chairman

Transport would need to be involved, as much of our guests' activities——

Deputy Mary Upton

It will be important.

Chairman

That is fine. We will include transport in the wording. Basically, we will be calling for all of the Departments mentioned to co-operate in promoting a more proactive approach to physical activity in the areas suggested. The committee will do that now and I hope it will make a difference. Indeed, we intend for it to do so. Our guests should feel free to revert to us on any of our comments.

Ms Maria Lordan Dunphy

My opening statement was brief. I wanted to give members an opportunity to ask questions, so I did not go into detail. I will take the questions that are most relevant to us. Some of my answers might address a number of questions.

I will start with comparisons with other countries. For example, Australia and New Zealand would probably fare better than Ireland in terms of physical activity. Like every other country, we are struggling with the problem of obesity. We are also struggling with solutions, but I will address the actions we have delivered on in a couple of minutes. In other countries, national leadership at Government level has worked well, with the likes of a prime minister — in our instance, the Taoiseach — leading all of the Departments involved. There would be a cross-departmental physical activity policy and action plan. This approach has worked well in Australia and New Zealand. Policy will drive action at local level. We are all in the same place as regards reports, but it is important to start off there.

Concerning pedometers, they are good incentives at an individual level, in that they motivate people and get them to change behaviour, but the broader system level is necessary. By this, I mean schools, communities and workplaces supported by policies. Pedometers are good in their own context, but we need a broader context.

In terms of co-operation, the HSE has supported the Department of Health and Children and participated in the intersectoral group established to examine how to join up the Departments' work to get an integrated response to the implementation of the task force's recommendations. From this we pulled together a group on physical activity. We put together the physical activity guidelines and we are now working with the different agencies involved to develop the foundations of a national physical activity plan. The Departments of Transport and Education and Science, among others, and the Irish Sports Council are involved. To lead by example, we identified four key areas to include in our 2010 business plans and we will all deliver on them together. Included in this is the question of how to raise awareness of physical activity through social marketing. After publishing the guidelines, we set up the Get Ireland Active website. We are all joining together to develop a common brand. The key message we will all use is getting Ireland active, which we will drive through our joint work. We are sharing resources in this regard.

We have agreed that the HSE will try to develop the smarter travel agenda further. We will work with our 100,000 employees in this regard. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, was supportive in helping us to drive that agenda. A number of pilot towns are undertaking smarter travel initiatives. We are joining them to try to support the physical activity agenda. It is not only environmental, as we are pooling all of our resources to try to get people more physically active. Those working on smarter travel will provide information on how many towns are involved. I believe it is four or six towns.

I appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children in recent weeks and I provided a comprehensive response on the recommendations of the task force on obesity. We are compiling a report for that committee and this committee may also wish to avail of that report. The recommendations made were broad and covered various sectors. We translated them into a set of actions on which we deliver and not only from the HSE's perspective. We have implemented the majority of them, except for two, one of which is with regard to undergraduate training and it takes a long time to change a curriculum.

We went further in supporting other Departments to implement their recommendations. We also have national partnerships with education and we are driving through the social, personal and health education curriculum, which addresses smoking, alcohol and physical activity. We are also building and delivering programmes in pre-schools, primary schools, post-primary schools, workplaces and at community level through, and in partnership with, sports. There is health promotion in 250 schools in the south of Ireland; I do not have numbers for other areas. Along with the physical activity agenda and school programmes with the Irish Heart Foundations we have nutrition policies throughout the country. The details are in the report.

Some of the taskforce recommendations are finite and one cannot state that others have been implemented. Those that are finite are delivered from our perspective. The Little Steps campaign has been delivered but one cannot stop running a campaign after one year and state the country is sorted even if improvements were made. Where we were asked to deliver we have done so but the actions are progressive and need to be continually implemented. This is an important point to make when considering what has not been achieved. I do not state that everything has been achieved but much has been delivered by many sectors.

GP exercise referral is built into consultation with a GP so those with medical cards should be able to avail of it. A cheaper cost is negotiated with gyms through the programme. The HSE is very conscious of targeting disadvantaged areas and lower socio-economic groups. Healthy food for all was mentioned and we support and fund this. We also provide healthy food made easy programmes in disadvantaged areas so that people know about healthy food and can cook it and know how to buy cheaply but healthily.

Dr. Patrick Doorley

One can state that traditionally there was no input on physical activity to curricula. This is changing and the Irish College of General Practitioners is much more active and has been supportive. I cannot provide an exact quantification but awareness is increasing among general practitioners.

Ms Maria Lordan Dunphy

We provide a comprehensive information service throughout the country encompassing all aspects of physical activity. Information can be obtained on the getirelandactive.ie website, which we established, and in health promotion departments throughout the country. It is available for teachers, GPs and communities and is quite easily accessible. We have done campaigns and much work has been done in them. The Little Steps campaign was very successful in that eight out of ten parents have changed eating habits in the family. We are progressing the physical activity side of the campaign on the website. We have made many efforts but we have much to do.

Mr. John Treacy

I will highlight what other countries are doing, and Finland provides an excellent example. It began addressing the issue of heart disease, which is a major issue there, in the 1960s. All of the various Departments work together to tackle the issue and the country is leading the way in Europe. Australia is another very good example, where physical activity is a way of life. People go to work with a gear bag over their shoulder. When the taskforce on obesity was put together this was the type of culture shift we had in mind, whereby physical activity would become a way of life.

Cultural shifts do not happen overnight. They take a long period of time. I would like to highlight the work done by the HSE and the Department of Health and Children through working with everyone on the implementation of those recommendations. There is much co-operation between all of the various bodies, including the HSE and the Department of Transport. What that Department has put together on cycling is visionary. This is the type of cultural change we need. We need to have an environment that lends itself to physical activity. This is critical.

I thank people for highlighting the work of sports partnerships. They do a terrific job throughout the country. The entire country is covered, including Leitrim which was the last county to cross the line. I will mention Senator Mooney in particular as more than €100,000 was provided to Leitrim this year, which is a significant increase in funding. The local players are who will decide on how it is spent.

The sports inclusion development officer, SIDO, programme was highlighted. The sports council, with a budget reduced by 4%, provided €400,000 new money to that programme this year. That was a commitment by the council to the great work done by the SIDOs. This is done in co-operation with local sports partnerships and we will raise a similar amount of money to develop the SIDO programme. Training will continue at the CARA centre. The local sports partnerships will roll out the programmes with the SIDOs and although the resources have been slightly reduced we will continue to do the work. The officers are passionate about the work and were not really concerned about their own positions; they were concerned that the programme would continue. It will do so and I am delighted to tell everyone that.

The recession is having an impact on physical activity. Our sports monitors tell us that fewer people are participating in expensive activities, such as joining a gym or expensive sports. However, the sedentary percentage has reduced from 22% to approximately 20%. Sedentary people are getting more active in getting out and walking or cycling for transport so there are positives. Deputy Ring made a point on officers. In particular in socially disadvantaged areas if there are no officers knocking on doors nothing will happen. We need people to go into those communities, organise people and help them to deliver the programmes. If no one is employed to do the job it will not get done. The governing bodies, including the FAI, GAA and the IRFU, are doing a great job with the local sports partnerships in highlighting these issues but people need to be put on the ground if we are to get things moving.

Senator Ó Murchú asked about showcases. These have been attempted commercially on three occasions but have not yet worked on the sporting side. We held various conferences, including an island conference to showcase the facility side, and will hold our own sports development conference in October in conjunction with Dublin City Council as part of the Dublin year of sport initiative. However, this conference is directed at development officers and this year's theme is participation rather than high performance.

Under the code of ethics and good practice in children's sports, the Irish Sports Council and the national governing bodies for sport do not allow alcohol to be celebrated at events involving children under the age of 18. We endorse what has been said in that regard.

In regard to schools being closed, I can cite several good examples, such as the VECs, of schools and communities working together to keep facilities open. There is no excuse for locking up these facilities.

Ms Finola O’Driscoll

In terms of what can be done to promote active travel to work, we should build on successful programmes. As Dr. Doorley and Mr. Tracey have noted, it is a question of integrating activity into everyday life. The commute to school and work is an ideal opportunity to integrate activity in order that it becomes a habit because it is free and accessible to everyone. One would not need to join a gym. We should build on the successful programmes and linkages that already exist.

Deputy Upton and Senator Buttimer raised the issue of safety. Concerns clearly arise in regard to school travel and this is why the programme works from the bottom up. It allows school communities to figure out what works best for them. We find that a virtuous circle develops because as more people walk, fewer cars are seen around the schools and the environment becomes safer. Infrastructural issues do arise, however, and green schools officers work closely with local authority education officers to formalise ways of addressing the infrastructure deficit around schools at local authority level either by redesignating existing resources or providing new funds. We would welcome any action this committee can take in pushing this agenda at the level of the Departments of Transport and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Chairman

This has been a very helpful meeting and I thank the witnesses for their contributions. I propose that the committee shall ask the Ministers for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Education and Science, Transport and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to co-operate in promoting a more proactive regime of physical activity, including in particular walking, for children and adults in our schools, workplaces and communities. Given that we deal primarily with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and that our impact might be reduced if we ask five Ministers to do something, I suggest that we ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism to drive the agenda.

The bottom line for us is that one in five people are inactive. We have to face the reality that not enough is happening in spite of our efforts. We will do our best to drive the change at ministerial level.

The joint committee adjourned at 4.05 p.m. until 12.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 31 March 2010.