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Obesity Strategy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2018

Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Questions (384, 385, 386, 387, 462, 463, 464, 465)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

384. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the status of progress with implementing the non-broadcast media advertising and marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages, including sponsorship and retail product placement, voluntary codes of practice; when the monitoring body will be set up to monitor the codes of practice; the timeframe for the designation of the body; the timeframe for the development of guidelines for implementation of the code; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49027/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

385. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the progress being made by the sub-group on reformulation to set targets on reformulation of food and drink; when its recommendations on addressing reduction of portion sizes and on monitoring and validation procedures will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49028/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

386. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the status of the work being undertaken in developing proposals for the purposes of conducting an evaluation of the sugar-sweetened drink tax; the timeframe for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49029/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

387. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health when his Department will make a progress report on the implementation of A Healthy Weight for Ireland, Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2016-2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49030/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

462. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the way in which the obesity policy implementation oversight group will engage with the recommendations of the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs's report on childhood obesity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49556/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

463. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the status of the way in which Action 2.1 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland, the Obesity Policy and Action Plan will be advanced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49557/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

464. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the outcomes that have come from the stakeholder forum on the built environment that took place on 21 November 2018; if a report will be compiled on the recommendations from the event; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49558/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

465. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the details on working groups to be established to design, enhance and deliver healthier environments after the stakeholder forum on the built environment that took place on 21 November 2018; if the obesity policy and action plan will examine developing a guidance document for health and environmental planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49559/18]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 384 to 387, inclusive, and 462 to 465, inclusive, together.

The national Obesity Policy Implementation Oversight Group (OPIOG) established under the Chair of the Department of Health, is comprised of individuals from a range of Government Departments and Agencies. It is providing oversight to the implementation of the recommendations of the national Obesity Policy & Action Plan (OPAP). At its next meeting, the OPIOG will consider the Report on Tackling Childhood Obesity from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs for the purposes of, among others, aligning both sets of recommendations. In the meantime, the preparation of a Progress Report on the implementation of OPAP is continuing so that it can be considered at this next OPIOG meeting.

As the Deputy is aware, the OPIOG agreed to establish a sub-group for Reformulation earlier this year. This sub-group has met on a number of occasions since being established and agreed their Terms of Reference. The Reformulation sub-group is technical in its work programme. The work of the sub-group will primarily set targets on reformulation of food and drink. It will also make recommendations on addressing reduction of portion sizes and on monitoring and validation procedures. As part of its work, a workshop between the Reformulation sub-group and Food Sector Stakeholders on reformulation took place on 20 September last. This workshop provided an important opportunity for detailed engagement with key Food Sector Stakeholders on the challenges and opportunities of reformulation in the interests of promoting the health and well-being of the population. And the work of the sub-group will now build on this engagement.

The report of the sub-group, which is anticipated to be finalised in the first half of next year, will among other things, explore approaches and make recommendations to address reducing portion sizes along with considering options for implementing recommendations in particular, monitoring and validation procedures.

While there are no plans at this juncture to establish any additional sub-groups along the lines referred to by the Deputy, the Chair of the OPIOG keeps such questions under review.

The commencement of the Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Tax on 1 May last was in line with one of the recommendations in the OPAP. It represents a positive step in our national policy to deal with the problem of obesity. Work on the development of an evaluation framework for this tax is well underway and I anticipate that this framework will be well advanced by early next year. In addition, Codes of Practice for food and beverages promotion, marketing and sponsorship were developed involving representatives from the food industry, advertising sector, statutory agencies, and various Government Departments. It was chaired by the former CEO of the statutory Food Safety Authority of Ireland. The Codes of Practice concerned were published in February. Earmarking a process for monitoring the Codes and the development of a related process to agree guidance for supporting them are continuing.

Finally, a number of Government policies aim to support the design and development of built environments that enhance health, wellbeing and quality of life for all. The National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) and OPAP both require that joint action is taken to promote the importance of physical activity and to reduce the obesogenic nature of the built environment.

In line with Actions 31 of the NPAP and 2.1 of the OPAP, which commit to developing guidelines and support materials for those working in developing the built environment in order to promote the importance of physical activity, and Action 59 of the NPAP which commits to developing a programme of on-going stakeholder communication and engagement, a Stakeholder Forum was held on the 21 November last.

The event was planned in partnership, with substantial input from three Government Departments, (Health; Transport, Tourism and Sport; and Housing, Planning and Local Government) and was hosted in the National Indoor Arena, Sport Ireland National Sports Campus, Abbottstown. I am pleased to note that the event was well attended with 125 delegates.

This Forum, entitled Connect, Collaborate, Create; Co-Designing Healthier Communities, A Healthy Ireland Stakeholder Forum on the Built Environment, brought together those who have a responsibility for planning and developing public spaces with those who have expertise regarding the impacts of the built environment on health and wellbeing, sport and physical activity.

I was delighted to address this Forum together with my colleague Simon Harris T.D., Minister for Health, and the CEO of Sport Ireland, John Treacy. Sessions were chaired by officials from the Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Health. Expert presentations were given regarding optimal design of healthier communities, the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS) and the new Town and Village Toolkit, which is about to be launched by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI).

Presentations were also given by Waterford City & County Council on the lessons learned from the success of the Waterford Greenway, and on the development of the No Fry Zone initiative in Greystones, Co. Wicklow which aims to place limits on the proximity of fast food outlets to schools.

The talks were followed by a workshop and discussion. Written feedback was gathered from all participant groups and is in the process of collation. These collated outcomes will be considered in detail by the relevant Departments, the National Physical Activity Plan Implementation Group and OPIOG for the purposes of advancing our work in the area of health and environmental planning.

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