Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2018
378. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken in conjunction with An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces to help reduce and eliminate obesity within their respective forces. [47817/18]
View answerI am pleased to advise the Deputy that the universal implementation of my Department's national Obesity Policy and Action Plan is continuing for the benefit of public health.
A 'Healthy Weight for Ireland’, the Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP), was launched in September 2016 under the auspices of the Healthy Ireland agenda.
This Policy, which takes a ‘whole system’ approach, covers a ten-year period up to 2025.
The Department of Health has established an Obesity Policy Implementation Oversight Group, comprising of officials from a range of other Departments as well as key academic and health agency representation. It is comprised of representatives from the following Departments and Agencies: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Department of Children and Youth Affairs; Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection; Department of Education and Skills; Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government; University College Cork; the Food Safety Authority of Ireland; the Health Service Executive (HSE) - including the National Clinical Lead for Obesity; and Safefood.
Sub-groups on Reformulation and on Healthy Eating have been established as initial priority areas for action. Work has commenced on a Roadmap for Reformulation of foods and drinks to reduce sugar and fat content.
In addition, a voluntary code of practice for food and beverages promotion, marketing and sponsorship has also been developed involving representatives from the food industry, advertising sector, statutory agencies, and various Government Departments. This Code was published in February and work is underway to operationalise it.
The OPAP recommended that proposals be developed relating to the rollout of evidence based fiscal measures, including a levy on sugar-sweetened drinks, in support of healthy eating. As the Deputy is aware the Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Tax commenced on the 1st of May. It represents a positive step in our national policy to deal with the problem of obesity. In addition, the development of legislation for calorie posting to support people to make healthy choices is underway by the Department of Health. Currently, a behaviour study on how best to make the posting of calories meaningful to customers and more likely to impact on their behaviours is being finalised.
A HSE national Clinical Lead for Obesity was appointed in 2017. This appointment will be important in further advancing the implementation of many of the recommendations in the OPAP including the development of a national integrated service model for the health and social care of overweight and obese people and for developing quality assurance guidance for obesity services.
Furthermore, under the broader Healthy Ireland agenda, a number of other major initiatives support the Obesity Policy:
- The National Physical Activity Plan is one of the key developments arising from Healthy Ireland, and implementation of that Plan is well underway in collaboration with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and a range of other stakeholders.
- The Healthy Ireland 2018 Communications campaign aims to encourage people to make a small, healthy change under three themes – Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Mental Wellbeing, and we are working with a range of national and local partners to deliver a range of communications and citizen engagement activities.
- The Healthy Ireland Fund, which was initiated in 2017 has supported a range of actions at both national and local level, which aim to support the Obesity Policy and the Physical Activity Plan.
- A national Healthy Workplace Framework is in development, in conjunction with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and a range of other stakeholders. This Framework, which is expected to be published in 2019, will support and foster initiatives to promote employee and workplace health and wellbeing within both public and private sector.
Finally, the question of targeted programmes along the lines suggested by the Deputy are matters for those Departments concerned in the first instance.
