Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 December 2018
187. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the frequency with which the obesity policy implementation oversight group has met since its establishment; the dates of these meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52363/18]
View answer188. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in the establishment of a monitoring body to monitor voluntary codes of practice (details supplied); the timeline for same in view of the fact that the codes will be one year old in February 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52364/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 187 and 188 together.
An Obesity Policy Implementation Oversight Group (OPIOG) has been established under the Chair of the Department of Health. 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.
The OPIOG held its inaugural meeting on the 19th of October, 2017 when it agreed to establish two sub-groups for Reformulation and Healthy Eating. Both sub-groups have met on a number of occasions since being established.
Further meetings of the OPIOG were arranged for 28 February 2018; 24 May 2018 and 23 October 2018 for the purposes of providing oversight to the implementation of the national Obesity Policy & Action Plan (OPAP).
Under the umbrella of the OPIOG, work is continuing on the development of the monitoring mechanism for the Codes of Practice on the Marketing and Advertising of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages; and at the same time, the Department of Health focus in this area has also been on progressing the development of Guidelines for the practical interpretation and application of these codes and I expect this process to be facilitated in the near future. Furthermore, my Department has engaged with industry representation on initiating a register of signatories to the Codes of Practice.
