More than 100 obese children are being treated at the National Children's Hospital in Dublin for growth, diabetes and endocrinology disorders, the Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture, Mr Billy Timmins, told the Dáil.
He warned that medical opinion suggested obesity among children could reach epidemic proportions within the next 10 years due to a sedentary lifestyle and eating habits. "To receive a cabbage or turnip in one's Christmas stocking is depicted as punishment rather than reward," said Mr Timmins.
"According to the Food Safety Promotion Board, obesity levels increased by 67 per cent between 1990 and 2000, and more than 20 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women are now obese."
Television advertising aimed at children played a major role in the trend, he said. "Each year in the United States, for example, the food industry spends an estimated €10 billion to influence children's eating behaviour.
"The average American child watches 10,000 food advertisements per annum, 95 per cent of which are fast food, soft drinks, confectionery and sugared cereals." Mr Timmins was speaking during the debate on the Bord Bia (Amendment) Bill, providing for the amalgamation of An Bord Glas and An Bord Bia. He said he deeply regretted that "the Government has decided to scrap An Bord Glas, which is the purpose of the Bill". Irrespective of the general arguments of properly managing the public finances, one should always be slow to target development research and market intelligence, said Mr Timmins.
"With concerns about healthy eating and competition in the horticultural industry on the increase, the decision to incorporate An Bord Glas into the larger Bord Bia is a retrograde step. Considerable concern has been expressed to me about the dangers of the smaller agency being subsumed by the larger body and losing its identity."
The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Joe Walsh, argued that a single agency could carry greater weight in the delivery of services than a structure where separate bodies were responsible for promoting home and export markets for horticulture.
"Given the economic importance of the food and horticultural industries to the economy, I believe that an amalgamation is now opportune and can bring together the synergies necessary to promote and market the entire food and horticultural industries at home and abroad. The horticultural industry will also have access to the broader profile of An Bord Bia's existing international network ..."
Disagreeing with the thrust of the Bill, Dr Mary Upton (Labour, Dublin South Central) said that the two boards had fundamentally different roles and should be retained as two distinct units.
"There is a risk that the smaller board, An Bord Glas, will be subsumed or gobbled up by the larger organisation. This may not happen deliberately, but the nature of mergers is that the smaller body loses its identity."
Mr Martin Ferris (SF, Kerry North) said that there was nothing wrong, in principle, with amalgamating bodies involved in the same broad area. "There are merits in bringing the overall development and marketing of horticultural produce under one body. However, I am concerned... that this particular proposal might diminish rather than enhance the work previously done by An Bord Glas. There is also the question of resources."
Mr Dan Boyle (Green Party, Cork South Central) said his party also opposed the Bill. "It seems to have been formed through the Department of Finance. The Department was asked to make savings and, rather than think strategically of the needs of Irish agriculture, the civil servants in the Department have instead chosen to see what could be done administratively to make the savings being demanded of it."
He said that, ultimately, the lack of a strategic approach would be to the disadvantage of all in Irish agriculture, from the individual farmers to the consumer, in whose interest the issue of food quality rested. "The Government must be taken to task for that lack of a strategic approach."
