Following on from what Senator Eamonn Coghlan said about the level of obesity among the population, I draw the attention of the House to an incident that occurred at the weekend. Prior to the under-21 football final between Tipperary and Tyrone the intermediate ladies football final took place between my county of Limerick and Offaly which Offaly won. It is the treatment of the ladies involved prior to the game that I wish to highlight. They show the same dedication in training as everybody else, yet they had to tog out at a location ten minutes away from the pitch by bus. They were not allowed to bring their gear bags into the ground. The half-time team talk took place in a hallway in which people were preparing food. The ladies concerned who have given so much of their time to playing for their counties did not receive as much as the match programme, even though they were playing in an all-Ireland final. That is not good enough at a time when we have such good female role models in sport. Katie Taylor is an obvious one, as is Anna Geary, the captain of the Cork camogie team who has received four all-star awards and has four all-Ireland medals and who announced her retirement at the weekend. I wish her the best of luck. What I have mentioned does not encourage anybody to become involved in sport.

What I really want to talk about is the march that took place at the weekend involving foreign language students in Ireland to learn English. There are English language schools located all over the capital city to which we invite people from all over the world to come to learn English and then relate their positive experiences here.

Many of these students have clubbed together thousands of euro in their countries by going cap in hand to neighbours, friends and relatives to raise the money to go to the schools and, when they get there, the schools can close overnight with no protection for these students who are coming here to learn English. The person who organised that march at the weekend stated she had worked as an English language teacher all over the world and that while the schools are poorly regulated everywhere, Ireland is the worst in the world and we need regulation. These schools are often operated by charlatans and fly-by-nights, and while the tutors in these schools are offered some protection, there is no recompense at all for any of the students. This is not a problem that has arisen recently. This dates back a couple of years. When Deputy Ruairí Quinn was Minister, I brought it to his attention as well. Often many of these students are forced into working in poorly paid employment, for example, as au pairs, where their conditions of work are poor to say the least, and they do not seem to have anywhere to turn or to go to. Perhaps it is because they cannot vote that people are not making a big noise about it, but it certainly does nothing to enhance our reputation as a country abroad when this kind of thing happens. I seek a debate in this House with the Minister for Education and Skills to see what is being done to regulate these types of schools.

I support the comments of my colleagues on the obesity issue. There should be a debate but it should be the commencement of putting together a practical action plan to address this issue. The figures revealed today in the WHO report are both frightening and startling, and the consequences, if we leave it unaddressed, are horrendous. Dr. Francis Finucane, a consultant endocrinologist at University Hospital Galway, suggests that the position will get worse and that if we leave matters as they are, we will be similar to the United States where one in three of those born since 2000 will have diabetes by the time they reach the age of 50. It is time to take all those reports to which Senator Eamonn Coghlan referred and start condensing them down to practical workable solutions. I agree with the Senator on the need for more investment in sports facilities in schools. There are significant sporting facilities in every rural community, town and village in this country but these are totally under-utilised. The challenge is how we can encourage more young people to use those facilities.

I refer to another significant report that was published today by Amnesty International on the unthinkable atrocities being waged against civilians in Syria's second city of Aleppo. The report alleges that the Syrian Government forces and many rebel groups are committing war crimes every day. President Assad's Government stepped up its bombardment of Aleppo in recent weeks in response to a rebel offensive. A local journalist told the BBC that she heard the screams of children and saw rescuers struggling to pull victims from the rubble. The Amnesty report stated that Syrian Government aircraft launched continual attacks using barrel bombs, oil barrels, fuel tanks and gas cylinders packed with explosives and targeted 14 public markets, 12 transportation hubs, 23 mosques, 17 hospital and medical centres and three schools, and there have been in excess of 3,000 fatalities. Over a year ago, a UN resolution calling for an end to human rights abuses, specifically barrel bombs, was passed but the Government of Assad failed to comply with that resolution. Since then the international community has turned its back on the Aleppo civilians. I call on our Government to keep on at the United Nations and our counterparts in Europe to apply pressure to the Assad Government to desist and adhere to the United Nations resolution.

What is happening in Syria warrants another debate in the House with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade at a convenient time because the atrocities highlighted in today's report are unspeakable and must be addressed. If war crimes are being committed, there is an obligation on the international community to pursue that issue to the international courts.

I support Deputy Eamonn Coghlan on all the magnificent work he has done since he was elected to this House. I read part of the report online but there is a shortcut in it to many of the reports that have been published already. If much of that groundwork were implemented, it would be welcome and would contribute to the work done by Senator Eamonn Coghlan, as mentioned by Senators Catherine Noone, Michael Mullins and everyone in the House who has raised it. However, Senator Coghlan has done a good deal of the work.

I raise the issue of the collection of the water rates. If people can afford to pay and will not pay, they are breaking the law. I do not know a Member on any side of the House who would say that people like the Anti-Austerity Alliance or Sinn Féin Deputies and others cannot afford to pay their water charges. It is no different than any other charge. We have to pay for a plumber, a carpenter and so on. The announcement today is about keeping people who will not pay their water charges out of jail. There will be a different approach now to people who will not pay the charge and those who cannot afford to pay. Generous allowances will be made, and that will be looked at. It is time we said that those who cannot afford to pay this charge will not be asked to pay it.