Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has posed a very important question about how we target the marketing for young people and, as she said, cut it off at source. The best way to do that right now is through Coimisiún na Meán. Officials within Coimisiún na Meán are working on that. Coimisiún na Meán was established in 2023 following the enactment of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022. It is developing codes of online safety and, as part of that work, the Department of Health will work with them on that.

The OSMR Act states that codes and rules "may prohibit or restrict ... the inclusion in programmes or user-generated content of commercial communications ... considered by the Commission to be the subject of public concern in respect of ... public health interests of children, in particular infant formula, follow-on formula or foods or beverages which contain fat," and have high amounts of salt.